Fear or Courage

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 ESV

“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a choice.” Winston Churchill

Pet lovers will relate to this. My 16-year-old faithful dog could not get up one morning. She had been rapidly declining for a few months but there was no pain. This time, her eyes pleaded with me to let her go. Courage is doing the right thing against our human understanding sometimes. Of course, I bundled her in her favorite blanket for her last trip. She loved going any place in the car and with the little energy she had, she peered out the slightly opened window. There must be a place in Heaven for these precious creatures!

We practice courage every day. We get up and go to work wrestling with traffic, weather, and unexpected delays. Remember your first solo driving trip? It had a touch of fear with excitement but you chose courage. Now driving may be commonplace and sometimes tedious.

Apologizing to someone we’ve harmed is filled with angst but choosing the courageous thing, apologizing, or making restitution are the choices to make. The ego is bruised and tears of regret come when choosing to live authentically and lovingly.

Leaving a destructive home life with no idea of what is to come takes tremendous courage. Making excuses and giving it one more time has destroyed any hope. This kind of courage takes support, planning and faith. Just today. Tomorrow will come with new hope.

Faithfully praying, speaking, writing, and practicing higher values in a dark and treacherous world requires digging deeply for courage. It could be a PTA meeting or staying up late to keep your business going. It could be caring for a terminally ill loved one or tutoring your child in math. The Father is with us. We only have to be courageous for today. The Father is with us wherever we go. He will bring us through.

Without courage, nothing changes. Or it does and not in a positive way. The price of denial. Facing childhood issues with a counselor and support group, fighting sex and drug trafficking in your community, and volunteering at a suicide hotline are battles that require tons of courage. We don’t do it alone. We don’t have to be dismayed. We have to be strong and courageous today.

Musings

The more we practice courage, the more we trust our Father and see transformation in ourselves. Jumping into the whirlwind without the Father is risky at best and folly at its worst but with Him, we know we will overcome.

Prayer

Dear Father,

Courage is ours because You are with us and love us. Whenever we are afraid, we remember Paul’s words, “I have fought the good fight. I have stayed the course. I have kept the faith.”

Thank you for giving us courage and giving us the most courageous of all, Your Son.

Amen.