The Getting of Courage
Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (NRSV)
Courage is … well, the strangest thing. We admire it in others, we all want it, we’d all like to think that others think of us as being courageous, and yet it’s something that we never want to have to use. Because if you have to deploy your courage, then you know something bad is happening to you.
Can I ask you today to picture the face of the most courageous person in your life? The one who’s been confronted by way more than their fair share of challenges, and yet has persevered, has come through it all and out the other side a much better person than they were in the beginning.
Who’s that person in your life, and if you had to use one word to describe how you see them, what would that word be? For me, it’s “admiration”. True, isn’t it? We admire courageous people. And at the same time, we don’t see ourselves as being all that courageous.
So what exactly is courage? Martin Luther King Jr put it like this: “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward in spite of obstacles and frightening situations.”
Man, that sort of inner resolution is tough to come by when you’re confronted by obstacles and frightening situations, isn’t it? So where do you get it? How can you lay hold of it when you feel anything but courageous?
Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (NRSV)
Two things. Firstly, that word “wait” in the original Hebrew means to wait patiently, to hope in the Lord with a sense of anticipation. And secondly, I love this “let your heart take courage” bit. Take courage? Where from? From the Lord your God.
Your God is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and He is ready to pour His courage into your heart. Be expectant and take His courage.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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Stephanie
Thank you Lord I have a job. I feel my confidence has eroded. I am not sure of anything. The person who is supposed to ...
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Thank you Lord I have a job.
I feel my confidence has eroded.
I am not sure of anything.
The person who is supposed to train me is NOT.
I have been there a year and no raise.
It is a musty and moldy basement.
I pray protection for my lungs.
I pray earnestly for a new better jib.
~S