Joshua, Caleb, and the Titans

Growing up in the early 2000's (to some of you I am now old... watch out) one of my favourite shows to watch was the Teen Titans! Five small heroes/sidekicks that formed their own team to fight off bad guys in the DC Comic Universe.  These heroes are Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy (at least in the show, there are more in the comics).  As a teen, I would get amped to rush down stairs in my dad's lazyboy recliner and watch the Teen Titans learn to fight beside eachother to save the world.  All the while having tiffs in their friendship or processing what kind of heroes they wanted to become; you know, regular teen stuff. More recently, this group has gone through significant changes with some members having their own comic series and storylines.  For a time it seemed like the Teen Tians were just a memory.  However, there was a series that came out that was bringing back the old gang under the title of the Titans, along with more dialog in processing being solo heroes working together. This gets turned up to 11 with the Titans not just being a older superhero group, but essentially the replacement of the Justice League (SAY WHAT!!!!).  What were once a group of teenagers trying to figure out themselves and their flow as a team are now the pioneers/examples to other heroes in taking on major threats to the universe.  Kind of big stuff here!

I have been sitting in the book of Joshua lately (if you couldn't tell from the Uncle Iroh talk) and the Titans reminded me of Joshua and Caleb. Here is a synopsis for you. Joshua is a young leader who is literally tutored by Moses and is his right hand man who later takes on the mantle of leadership over Israel going into Canaan.  Caleb was a brave warrior who was one of the 12 spies that were sent to scope out Canaan to see if Israel would have a chance of going in and making it their home.  The thing was out of the 12 spies only two were good to go into the land... you guessed it our gents Caleb and Joshua.  The other ten spies were freaking out about giants in the land and thought there was no way they were going to be able to make a difference to make this place their home.  Joshua and Caleb, however, were looking at it that if God's saying this is our place, we are going to be able to do it.  By the way, these gents were in their 40's, but were still considered the younger spies of the group (like the Teen Titans at this stage). So because of the majority not wanting to take the risk they didn't go in and God made the Israelites wander the desert to 40 years (yikes).  Now after 40 years Joshua is the new leader and Caleb is one of the heads of the army and throughout the book of Joshua is their story how they made Canaan their new home.  It was like the Titans showing up and leading the charge for this new group of heroes to learn from. You nerds gotta pick up Joshua and look at the leadership of these two gents! It was the heart that made them leaders, it was their willingness to stick to God's direction that kept them moving and lead the example for their nation.

You may feel like you're a Teen Titan, just learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus, but how are you intentionally listening/following God's direction? How are you stepping out in a way that may encourage and inspire others over time; being the example like the Titans are to the rest of the hero community?