And David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God—my God—will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. 1 Chron 28:20.
According to Webster courage means the ability to do something you know is difficult or dangerous. Mental or moral strength to venture, preserve, and withstand danger, fear, and difficulty. A description God uses in His word for courage (Bravery, daring, guts) is the descriptive word "good."
There's a lot of things in life that takes courage. To bungee cord jump off a bridge takes courage. To skydive from an airplane takes courage. To raise a child takes courage. To face the unknown takes courage. To face cancer or any long term illness takes courage.
If you look at the list some of the things listed take courage that last long enough to get to the end of the task such as bungee jumping or skydiving. The others there is no end and thus courage must continue on. In order for courage to do us any good it must be a good courage that will last as long as the difficulty does and even beyond.
False courage out of a bottle won't do. Fake courage from a candy bar or drugs or anything else other than God won't do either. We aren't meant to stand alone and be brave. We need God's strength to see us through. Good courage is a lasting courage. One that will eventually get us through that which we needed to face.
Recently when I had to face my hair loss one day I thought I had ran out of courage. Waking up from a nap I looked at the mirror and started to cry and cry. As I reached for the scissors I began to whack away at my hair. The task of watching my hair slowly fall out was draining away on the backside of the courage I had left to handle such difficulty.
At first I wanted it to fall out because my grandkids could see my two brain surgery scars. Unfortunately what it showed was scars being left behind from my cancer adventure. Little did I know they were there and what courage I had was soon to be gone. It was time for a new storage of good courage, the lasting kind not the kind that was false, fake, or non-lasting.
In spite of feeling as if I couldn't laugh anymore it was time to step up boldly to God's throne and renew that courage and strength it was going to take to endure. With the help of prayers from myself and others as well as encouragement the supply Of courage I once thought was lost was found.
As I look back now the bump in the road that had me temporarily stopped was overcome. The blocked view of what was ahead has become clear. I know in my heart, thanks to Jesus, each time I have to bungee jump off the bridge of dealing with cancer to face new news I will do so in the courage and strength God supplies.
Why? Because I am promised I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippines 4:13. As long as I go through Him it will be a good and everlasting courage. Praise the Lord.
Copyright 2015 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing
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