Courage

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

Most people don’t realize it, but the Bible has a lot to say about courage. For some reason, in our society today, courage has become a trait no longer highly prized as it was in our parents’ generation. Our society is enthralled with stories about those whose success came by accident, and we are thrilled when we hear that they hardly even tried – an overnight success! We like the “get-rich-quick” stories. Buy a lottery ticket and become a millionaire overnight – no work necessary. We love the idea of someone discovering us! Maybe that’s why movie stars and pop music stars are the new heroes of our society.

I praise the people of courage who are all around us: the single parent, the businessperson daring to conduct business God’s way in a dog-eat-dog world, the hero struggling to overcome a chronic or even life-threatening illness, the person with an impossible dream! We all cheered Lance Armstrong’s victory in the Tour de France, but imagine his hard-fought battle against cancer! People flock to successes, but some of us live in admiration of the people who fight the odds, holding on to the impossible dream.

Courage cannot be born without the cradle of adversity. If you feel like a failure or that everything is going wrong, let me salute you for your courage! I admire the writer who has never published, the policeman or fireman, and their families, who live with the constant threat of danger, the idealistic school teacher who continues to give everything, day in and day out to each child they’re given; the Small Groups pastor who ministers and really nurtures people’s souls; the person who sticks with their dream even when the results are not encouraging. I am not the only one who notices! There are children watching and learning. There are cynical people who are watching and wondering. God is watching and applauding from heaven!

Lord Jesus, I pray for the people of courage! Give them this moment to hear your applause of heaven! Amen.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Tim White