Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who is going with you. He will not fail you or abandon you"!
A quick search of the Bible and we will see over and over where the people of God were told to “Be strong and courageous!” Courage has been defined by many notable men and women throughout history as the principle quality that we build the rest of our lives on. Courage is the kindling for the fire of faith to ignite upon.
“Courage is the first of the human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all the others”. -Winston Churchill
We live in a time when the voice of courage in many are being magnified, and amplified, only to be dismantled and cast away. To say that this has no effect on the voices of us all would be errant. Knowing that we have a responsibility to a loving God we must not let our voices or our actions become small in our own minds. It is up to us to create moments of courage in our life. These big moments are so important because they fuel commitment.
My company was recently making some changes in the areas in which we worked. I knew then that I had an opportunity, a chance to be courageous. I really enjoyed a particular part of town that I worked in and I really didn’t want to be moved out of there. The moment was up to me, I had to go in to the head managers’ office and make my demands. Not really. I did realize however, at this moment, the only one who was going to speak for me, was me. So, after a quick prayer asking for favor from God, I made my first step. It was not that my boss was unapproachable or unfriendly; it was just uncomfortable to think I was going to go confront him. I sat down and told him my request, that I wanted these two areas of town to work in, his reply, “I don’t see a problem with that.” So simple, and so relieving. I got what I wanted, unselfishly and courageously. This small situation gives me confidence when I know I need to be courageous in other situations, asking to pray for someone, or telling them about the power of God. I don’t want my heart to be silent, or my voice. If the fire will ever keep burning in our lives, we must continually add to it with acts of courage. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear”. -Ambrose Redmoon
By: Patrick Woodrum
