Skip to main content

Ripping the Mask...

             Have I not commanded you? 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)

 

            What does courage feel like? Have you ever felt it? Maybe it’s just my distrust of feelings but I don’t think I have. I have felt unafraid or not felt afraid. I have felt pride at overcoming my fear or doing something someone would call courageous. But the whole point of courage is that one acts despite fear. Not feeling fear isn’t being courageous. It’s not being afraid, and it’s possible that not being afraid is foolish.

            We tend to have this notion that courage is something noble or heroic. As I write this, however, it comes to mind that it’s time to rip the mask off of the caped crusader known as “Courage.” What a surprise… it’s mild-mannered Self-Discipline… doing what you need to do despite not wanting to, or wanting desperately not to.  Oh dear, “Paradigm Shift!”

            The problem is that self-discipline isn’t at its best when used only in a crisis. Yes, there are stories of people performing amazing acts of strength in a crisis, but how much easier is it for someone who regularly lifts 200 pounds three days a week to lift 400 pounds than it is for someone who may lift ten pounds one day a week? To be strong and courageous in battle, one must practice not running from smaller things.

            So, the task I’m going to put in my to-do list is to make a list of things I should do that I’m afraid to or otherwise have been avoiding.  Yikes. Some of that list will involve doing what I do not want to do or think I can't. Some will involve stopping doing what I want to do or think I can't. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more