God gives us reasons to trust Him.

And Joshua said to the people of Israel, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God." (Joshua 3:9 ESV)

God builds our courage by building our confidence and trust in Him.  We build confidence as we see what God is able to do.  We build trust as we see God’s faithfulness in doing it.

And Joshua said, "Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap." (Joshua 3:10-13 ESV)

God announces, through Joshua, what God is going to do.  God’s plan for helping the Israelites cross the Jordan river is miraculous – there is no way they could have pulled this off the way God did it.  That builds their confidence in God.  God’s plan bring them into the land that God had promised to them through their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  That builds their trust.

By announcing it through Joshua, God is building their confidence in Joshua as the deliverer of God’s new instructions.  In other words, this confirms for the Israelites that Joshua is a true prophet.  As Joshua is faithful in delivering the message and leading Israel, that builds their trust in him.

How about you?  Are you confident that God can do what God says He will do?  Do you trust God to lead you to good places?  Do other people express confidence that you are a man or woman of God?  Are you faithful enough that they trust you?