‘Do not fear’
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
1Kings 17:13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first….”
Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord
Courage. I always wanted courage. I would watch those tv shows years ago depicting rescuers, first responders, highway patrol, and the military, and all the rest of the heroes saving the day. I wanted to be brave, to believe if I was ever in a circumstance, I would respond bravely—dashing in to save whatever.
Over the years, I’ve learned more about courage, bravery, and it is not always a daring act. It can be avoiding moving in circles with folks who believe alcohol or other abuses should be tolerated or encouraged. The courage may come with you being the one to say no and to move on and leave a group of friends or people you’ve developed a relationship with. It can be lonely and feel a little dismal to spend a lot of free time without others.
It can be the committed walk of moving with God, following His commands for your life, and although you may still care about and love some who are abusing some substance, being crass, or sinning in some manner. It takes courage to walk away and know you may b facing a period of time when you don’t have friends to do some activities with. Living your beliefs and your ethics may cause others to feel you are judging them, and they may then be the ones who want to step away. But it is important to live by the values you know God wants you to live.
But you are in good company. Jesus would often go off alone to pray and seek His Father, Elijah was alone for a period of time after proclaiming there would be no rain and fleeing from Jezebel. Jonah was alone in the belly of a large fish for three days. Being alone is not always a negative thing, although I recognize it is difficult of people who are basically extroverts.
It takes courage to follow God sometimes. And sometimes, you need to be alone in prayer and seeking God, away from distractions to recognize what He wants you to do. It takes courage to separate yourself sometimes. Your courage is rewarded with your relationship with Him, but it sometimes takes a while to recognize the reward…it sometimes hurts being made into a new creature.
And we are human and enjoy spending time with others, so it is sometimes difficult to walk away rather than compromising activities you may be uncomfortable with.
Courage. It comes in all forms. It can be seen in some of the young children dealing with an illness and enduring uncomfortable procedures and so forth. It can be someone running into danger to try and save another. It can be a person standing and declaring why he/she cannot be involved with hurting the “temple” of the body; our bodies are God’s temple. He lives within us if we have claimed His Son as our savior. It can be declaring God’s love to hostile persons who have not experienced His loving touch, or believe that He exists.
Courage…God wants us to be strong and of good courage. And He promises to be with us when we are facing scary times. There may be times we are facing illness with ourselves or a family member, we are hurt either emotionally or physically, or any other scary times, but He promises, abundantly and often, to be with us. His word commands us to ‘Be of good courage and not to fear’ many, many times. God repeats it often, through many different biblical characters and situations, because He knows we will fight frightening times in our lives and because He knows that is one of Satan’s greatest weapons. If Satan can make us fear and frightened, our eyes are not on God and trusting Him. He reassures us by the command that He will be with us. It is then our responsibility to TRUST He will.
I so appreciate seeing and hearing about courage. It affects “my bellaviews” in a positive manner.
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