Clearly, it is proper to aim at being spiritually strong and improper to settle for being anything less. But now look below the surface. Why were these exhortations necessary? Answer: to banish, if possible, the sense of weakness that was there before. It is likely that Joshua, listening to God, and Timothy, reading the words of Paul, were feeling panicky deep down. To follow up Moses’s ministry as Israel’s leader and Paul’s as a church planter were two tremendous tasks; it would be no wonder that