Be Strong and Courageous

I recently lead the discussion in our ladies’ Bible class. We were finishing up a study book by Wilson Adams — Building Up One Another. We found this book to be very enjoyable to study and to discuss with each other but the point of this post is not to promote the book.

The last lesson was on encouraging one another. Wilson made the statement that encouragement was “to put courage in”. Now, I know I’m pretty slow about things sometimes but this one surprised me. I had seen and used the word encourage most of my life and I had never realized that courage was its root word. If courage is the root word of encourage, it must also be the root word of discourage.

As the light bulb goes on, I see that to encourage someone is to fill him with the courage and confidence that enables him to face difficulty, danger and pain. So someone who is discouraged must lack courage, confidence and be filled with fear when facing difficulty, danger and pain.

There are lots of things in this world that require courage. A soldier, policeman, fireman all need courage. They face danger on a regular basis as they defend and protect us from harm’s way.

Some people need courage to do what they do even though no one’s life is in danger. A violinist (I’m familiar with this kind of courage — or lack of courage) needs courage or confidence to stand up and play a very delicate instrument with very intricate music in front of an audience that is watching every move she makes. A baseball player must have courage as he stands in the batter’s box waiting for that ball to come hurling towards him (hopefully not hitting him) while the other team wants nothing more than for him to fail and every eye in the stand is watching his moves knowing that they could do a better job.

Other people need courage to face decisions they have to make. They may need to face the bully in their school or work place. They may need to stand alone against the crowd for one reason or another. It may be that as the boss, someone has to talk about a worker’s need for improvement. It may be that everyone is wanting to go one way and you see that it’s the wrong direction. It takes courage to stand against the crowd.

Where does courage come from? What makes a policeman willing stop a car at night and approach it confidently? What makes the violinist walk out on that stage and perform beautifully? What makes the baseball player willingly expose himself to a super fast baseball thrown within inches of his body? Courage comes from confidence. Confidence comes from preparation. Preparation comes from taking the time to learn about whatever it is that needs to be done. Seeking experts to help mentor and give advice. Practicing, practicing, practicing. Everyone that succeeds in standing alone, either on stage, in the batter’s box, in the role of boss or on the side of the highway next to a car you’ve just stopped has done just that: prepared, sought advice, practiced.

God commands us to be courageous. While He would want us to be courageous in our secular endeavors, His command for us to be courageous is directed to our walk with Him. We must be courageous as we face the world. We must be willing and able to stand alone if need be. We must have the confidence that we can endure the trials we encounter from those who want to bring us down. We must fight the spiritual war we are in without shrinking back, without getting discouraged.

Sometimes we do get discouraged though. What can we do? Is it time to give up? We need to “put courage in” or get encouragement. Just like the people mentioned above with their secular activities, we must prepare, seek advice and practice.

Prepare: Our source of encouragement comes from God Himself. He has provided us with all we need to know about Him and about life in His word. We must go to God’s word, the bible, for our encouragement. The more we delve into His word, study it, meditate on it, share it with others, the more we encouragement we receive.

Seek Advice: Another source of encouragement God has blessed us with is the local church. Our fellow Christians who are seeking God through His word can help us when our confidence begins to fail. We need to be involved with each other. We need to search out our brethren’s expertise. Many of them have been through the same experiences that have caused our discouragement. Learn from them.

Practice: No one can be courageous if they have not practiced being courageous. Practice doing the things we read about in God’s word. Decide ahead of time, before we are faced with a temptation or trial, how we will react. Determine that we will follow God’s way not the easy way. Each time we succeed in being courageous, the next time will be easier.

As we become more courageous we need to share our courage with those that are discouraged by encouraging them. Be aware of those that need to be filled with courage and set about to help fill them up. Encourage them to seek courage in God’s word and pray for them. They will then be filled with courage and then be there for us when we become discouraged.

God has given us a command and has given us the tools we need to be courageous. His ways are never complicated and are different from the world’s ways. Many people will seek other ways to obtain courage but until they realize that God is our source of encouragement, they will always be discouraged.