Courage

We can have confidence in the knowledge that God is always with us to speak to us, encourage and guide us and that we can have courage even if we are normally timid

Source: Etsy

I have been reminded of how, many years ago when I faced a very difficult situation that I had to go through, I prayed to God and asked Him to give me the courage I needed. His answer was that I was not to pray for courage, but to ask him for the strength and His help to go through it. Having courage is something that we ‘do’. We might be frightened, but we go ahead and do it anyway.  Soldiers facing battle must be very scared and anxious but they still go into battle and fight, even when everything in them must be screaming to run in the opposite direction. 

Often when we face something difficult God speaks to us beforehand and gives us everything we need, but that does not stop us having to go ahead and do it. I think of Moses who kept arguing with God when he was told to return to Egypt. God equipped him with what he needed - the staff to show miraculous signs and Aaron to speak on his behalf.  Another example found in the Bible is Gideon. When the angel of the Lord told Gideon to defeat the Midianites, He reassured him and even gave him two signs that he would be successful (Judges 6). In Matthew 14:27 when Jesus walked upon the water, the disciples were terrified when they saw Him, but Jesus immediately said to them, ‘Take courage!  It is I.  Don't be afraid’.  In 1 Corinthians 16:13 we are told, ‘Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be men of courage, be strong’ and in Hebrews 3:6; ‘Christ is faithful as a son over God's house, if we hold onto our courage and the hope of which we boast’. In Acts 27:22, when the ship the Apostle Paul was travelling on found itself in a violent storm and was about to be shipwrecked He said to the men on board to ‘keep up your courage’ and was able to tell them that their lives would be spared; ‘But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed’.

Source: PInterest

The phrase 'take courage' - can mean to ‘grasp’, or ‘to get hold of’.  All the phrases mentioned above are what we used to call 'doing' words when learning grammar.  We ‘grasp courage’, ‘hold onto our courage’ and endeavour to be ‘men or people of courage’. It is not just a stance or an attitude, it’s an action. We can have confidence in the knowledge that God is always with us to speak to us, encourage and guide us and that we can have courage even if we are normally timid; 1 John 4:4 ‘You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world’. I know that in my times of weakness and doubt that I can sometimes be a bit of a coward but I take comfort in the fact that I can have courage if I need it.  As I step out to do what needs to be done, He will give me everything I need to go through it; Philippians 4:19 ‘And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus’. What a blessing this is.

The song I have selected below; ‘Oceans, where feet may fail’, for me is prophetic. When I sing this song, I mean every word of it. Why not take a bit of quiet time to listen carefully to the words for yourself? 

Love in Christ and blessings.

Author: Muriel Allen

May God bless and enrich your life 

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