Courage

 

August 31, 2020

Psalm 31:24 reads, “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart.”  Courage precedes strength. God wastes nothing, and will not give strength where there is no courage to act, in other words, where it isn’t needed. Courage is not a feeling; it is a commitment to act in the face of danger, to face it squarely no matter the consequences. Too often, we want to feel courageous while doing and sacrificing nothing. We are given only necessary strength.

Media will often hold up self-serving and narcissistic behavior as courageous, but the examples noted often have given up nothing, have not put themselves in harm’s way, and only take a stand once they’ve tested the way the cultural wind is blowing. It is a cowardly courage.

Real courage swims upstream, bucking the tide and disdaining the words and reactions of others. Such courage to act ones only from waiting on God (Isaiah 40:31). In God’s presence we learn what we are to do, and once we’ve decided to do it, we find the wait itself has strengthened us. We are weak because we get up from our knees too soon and have therefore failed to choose well our actions. The Good News is: God promises courage to anyone bold enough to humbly come into his presence and stay awhile.