Courage

A friend of mine shared this with me yesterday and I think it's too good to not share with you.

COURAGE

Floyd McClung:

It doesn’t take courage to be a critic. It doesn’t take courage to leave knock weird, religious people. And it doesn’t take courage to complain and react. It doesn’t take courage to build walls around your heart and let no one in, to live a self-centered lazy life. It certainly doesn’t take courage to place impossible demands on God and then feel justified in your disobedience when God doesn’t meet your demands. It doesn’t take courage to refuse to share Jesus with neighbors or refuse to expose your heart to poverty by serving the poor. All it takes to live without courage is a bucket load of excuses and misuse of God’s grace.

Why do we have to wait until we are “called” to do something radical for God? What’s wrong with volunteering? God won’t be upset with us if we choose to lay down our lives…He won’t lean over the balcony of heaven and say, “Hey, cut it out! Your messing up the ‘I call you, you don’t call me,’ system.  Stir up courage in your heart and go for it! It is this radical way of looking at serving God that is at the heart of living a courageous life.

Courage is the quality of those who see the need in the world, have faced their fears, and chosen faith instead of fear. Our greatest concern should not be dying or a fear of dying, but living a life that is not worth dying for. Courage is overcoming our struggles by facing down the lies of the enemy that have been holding us captive. Courage is not the absence of fear in the face of danger; it is the willingness to trust God in spite of danger. Courage is believing that God’s grace is sufficient for every situation, and then acting on that belief. I am convinced that in myself I would deny God if I was persecuted. I am banking on the grace of God. That, to me, is courage.

I believe courage is not waiting for God to call you, it is stepping out in faith by calling on him. Courage is volunteering to be used by God in places he cannot find anyone one else to go, knowing God doesn’t punish volunteers but rewards them.

Courage is not waiting for something mystical to happen to us to make us obey God, it is stirring up our hearts to believe God. The Bible says Daniel ‘stirred’ up his courage. It tells us that Joseph of Arimathea ‘took’ courage. Courage does not come arbitrarily to the brave; it is taken hold of by the obedient. It is the reward of those who refuse to be prisoners of their fears, the lies of the enemy and the temptations of the world.

Be courageous today!


Deuteronomy 31:6
"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

1 Corinthians 16:13-14
"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love."