What do you mean be courageous?

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

The Lord has often commanded that we be courageous.

 

What does courage look like?

I know for me it has to be more than those moments in time when for example – a fireman rushes into a burning building to save someone. Those moments don’t often come my way but the opportunity to live each day does.

 

So how am I to be courageous?

At one of the many appointments that I drive people to, I noticed this saying on the wall: Believe and Succeed – “Courage does not always roar, sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” I found myself liking this definition of courage because I feel that it does indeed take courage to get up and face another day with the hope of a better end. Think about the person who has lived with an injury that causes constant pain, or the parent who prays and waits for God to heal their newborn born with a tragic disease, or the loved one waiting to know if the soldier at war from their family will return, or the hope that your whole family was able to make it to safety when that hurricane blew through, etc. These events present a much different need for courage than the above fireman with the one-time saving (I really appreciate the danger they face in order to help others) which takes me back to the quiet voice of God whispering to me – “With my help you will have the courage necessary to face each new challenge that comes your way today.

 

So no matter what you are going through, I would like to encourage you to remember that you can have the courage required to make it through – all you need to do is trust in the Lord and ask Him for what you need today.