Courage is…

Posted on August 20, 2013 | 4 comments

I’ve been thinking.
 

It all started last week, when I saw this on the Facebook wall of someone I respect deeply*:
 
“If courage looks small in your eyes REMEMBER the wall of Jericho came down after WALKING around it for days, Gideon’s army was made up of only 300 men and defeated thousands, and Mary the mother chosen to care and nurture, nurse and raise the son if God was a young teenager who could only provide the savior a feeding trough for a bed. COURAGE ISN’T WHAT YOU DO…it’s doing what God’s placed before you in all your weakness, frailty, and insufficiencies and bravely doing the impossible by faith. Praise God we ALL have opportunity to be brave and courageous because even if our circumstance is impossible, overwhelming and BIGGER than us, with GOD all things are possible, NOTHING is too hard for him, and NO weapon formed against us will prosper. So be of good courage, be STRONG in the power of HIS might…having done all to stand.”

 
Since then, that word has been stirring in my soul.

 
Courage— it comes from the Latin root “cor,” meaning “heart.” Which explains why “take courage” and “take heart” are used so interchangeably.

 
The King James Version of the Bible often uses the phrase, “be of a good courage.” It sounds so simple, and yet… How can we “be of a good courage” when we’re completely broken? We’ve all been to those places of shattered heart and wounded hope.

 
The answer, I think, is in that Latin root. “Be of a good courage”– be of a good heart. Take heart.

 
..and we have a Savior whose heart aches to be given to us, taken by us, who gave everything for us to know that.

 
So what does this courage look like?

(note: words in blue are links– click through for more.)

 
Courage is the writer who takes a pen to paper to write the story that feels bigger than him.
 

Courage is the teacher, the pastor, the caregiver, putting in hours longer than anyone knows, loving to depths greater and costs deeper than anyone ever sees, loving past rebellion, abiding through, in spite of, and because of, year after year of daily tribulation.
 

Courage is taking one single step.
 

Courage is the person living Psalm 31. Living the peril, betrayal, hurt and weariness therein, but like the Psalmist, daring, even in light of verses 9-13, to speak the words of verses 14-24.
 

Courage is the missionary who steps out when it makes no worldly sense, believing God is as much God in the outer reaches of the earth as he is at home, in perceived safety.
 

Courage is the family of that missionary, trusting the very same… and sharing their loved one with the outer reaches of the earth because they love them, they love the God who called them, and they see the love that person has for that place, that people.
 

Courage is the mom waking in the middle of the night, when she has not an ounce of strength left in her, to feed and comfort her tiny little one.
 

Courage is that same mom, eighteen years later, waking in the middle of the night, when she has not an ounce of strength left in her, to pray for that grown one, flying the nest.
 

Courage is that grown one, stepping out and following where Christ may lead.
 

Courage is choosing to say “yes” to God, when nothing is enough, but you know He is. When the numbers don’t add up on the clock, in your days, in your bank account, in the probabilities—but it all boils down to this: He called you, and you obeyed, and He will provide.
 

Courage is the one waiting for their someday Beloved, choosing (Every. Single. Day.) not to settle. To love that someday person enough to hold out. To love God’s best enough to wait for God’s best.
 

Courage is the one whose life has been ravaged by loss, but who reaches in desperation for hope… and finds it at the hands of the God who never left their side, even when He seemed silent or distant or gone.
 

Courage is the person who will forsake the distinguished title, the lucrative job offer, the full ride scholarship, all for the chance to follow that still, small, strong voice leading them to serve perhaps in quiet obscurity.
 

Courage is the quiet one who writhes inside at the idea of standing in the spotlight, but steps forward if God opens the door, willing to speak and be heard, or act and be seen, if God can use it in any small way.
 

Courage is the unsung one, whose very life is a song.
 

Courage is the one who embraces the waiting, even on a hard and broken road. The one who entertains this possibility, and says “yes, Lord.”
 

Courage is the one who says, like Amy Carmichael, “But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed.” …and then lets their heart be carried along on the words of this song. …Even knowing the story behind the song.
 

Courage is the one who sees, really sees, the people around them, and takes the time to encourage them, cherishing the great work God is doing through each life. Perhaps not even realizing the very lifeline their encouragement is to those lives.
 

Courage is the one who holds their greatest dreams with open hands.
 

Courage is the teenager who will walk past the barriers of cliques and grades and age and come alongside one younger than himself, helping them plow into the tricky teenage years with the gift of friendship and example. I’ve seen it, multiple times, even in just the past few weeks.
 

Courage is—and I can barely write this, for how deeply it’s changed my life—the mother who will give life, life itself, to the wee one inside her… and place that life with care into the arms of an aching family. That mother is loved, so loved.
 

Courage is you. Living right where you are, speaking each day– “God, use me here!” Realizing that no matter how miniscule, invisible, daunting, or impossible the task may seem, “If God called you to it, it can not get any greater. What could be greater than serving the King who gave us everything? Wherever that service might take place.”
 
 

Courage is ordinary people, doing extraordinary things, one step at a time.
 
 

Courage is each one of these… Because they’re taking heart. His heart.

Please, share in the comments– what courage have you witnessed? It’s good for our hearts to stand and take note of it, don’t you think?

“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV
 
 
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:9

*A big “thank you!” to Jennifer Kim for giving gracious permission to quote her. I’m grateful, Jennifer!