flex the courage muscle

The marathon runner has to be in it for the long haul. Eternity is a long haul, we don't want to miss it. We need to accept Jesus and be infused with himself.

Leave the comfort zone

After decades of non-use there was still evidence of habitation such as a broken-down goat yard, the lid off a can, glass bottle stoppers.
 Curiosity prompted me to lift the lid of a milk can lying amongst the salt bushes. A tiny lizard reared its head in defiance at me.  Several others came to look at this tiny, courageous critter.  I could have snuffed out its life with my fingers, yet it stared into my face, it’s mouth open wide, daring me to attack.  I lowered the lid and left the little creature alone to live another day.  It was the personification of courage.
 Very few people would think of themselves as a David pitted against a Goliath, yet when their back is to the wall, they turn into a David, rescuing people from certain death, sometimes at the expense of their own. Speaking-up boldly for a cause they believe in when everyone else is silent.

---

Team work: working as one, trusting your mate. Walking with god call for our trust. Trusting in money is not security for the future or even eternity. God is trustworthy, he loves us and comes through for us but we have to trust him.

Several years ago, my husband Bruce was called to visit a home at 2 am to deal with a drunken man.  The guy was brandishing a gun and threatening to shoot anyone, including himself, who dared to try to take it from him.  
 Did Bruce feel like a David?  No!  Inside, fear made him feel like a jelly bag.  But someone had to face the man and try to save him and his loved one’s lives. 
 Wondering how the man would react, Bruce took slow steps, one at a time, toward the man seated on a bed in a bedroom.  Finally sitting down beside him, putting his arm around his shoulders, he took possession of the gun.  What Bruce was doing, was it madness? an emotion that pushes him into acting without thinking? An adrenalin rush? Is courage an inbuilt trait … a response of self-preservation? 

---

The fire walker. To be a firewalker one must prepare mentally. The fire has to be prepared. At the right time the walker strides of the red-hot coals fearlessly. Leaving the comfort zone isn't easy. but to walk with God we must leave our comfort zome and walk with God by faith and not by reason of logic very often.

​ Some people are trained to face danger as in warfare, firefighting and ambulance attendants.  We expect these people to be brave.  Yet when questioned they deny being courageous.  They claim to have saved their mate because he was just that – their mate, and that they were scared stiff.  
 Training certainly holds a person steady in a time of crisis but even ordinary, untrained people become courageous in a time of emergency.
 What about Bruce, what was his motivation?  Firstly, his response was governed by his acceptance of his call by God to serve his fellow man, and secondly, by his desire to prevent tragedy.  Bruce went fuelled by the hope in Christ that this unhappy man could be delivered from his bondage.
 Having met Christ in his teens, Bruce was now, after years of experiencing God’s faithfulness in all walks of life, completely sure that God was well able to do anything he promised. Even though he was scared stiff, he responded to the 2 am call because he believed that God was able to keep him.  The roots of courage are sown in our past experiences and the history we have with God.  

---

The snake handler: it takes courage to handle snakes. One has to over come a fear, learn how to handle them so that they aren't hurt. One has to prepare. So it is in life, if we are to flex our courage muscle and make a difference then we overcome fear, prepare by learning to handle what life throws at us. To achieve success we need to put faith and trust in God.

 When Bruce arrived at the home of the drunk, he couldn’t just barge in and demand the gun be dropped.  No, it was soothing words, then a slow step by a step march across the room to sit beside the man
Courage is like a muscle, the more we dare to use it by taking risks not just in the ‘big’ moments to save lives, but also in the ‘small’ ones like speaking to the neighbor, inviting someone to church or home to a meal - it can be doing something that we have never done before.  
 If we dare to take a risk, we are flexing the muscle of courage.  By so doing, we grow as a Believer and as a person.  If our fear is not challenged then we remain weeping violets.  Should we continue to be afraid to say boo to a goose, we will not achieve very much.  Without daring we are not living.
Take one step at a time and flex your muscle of gallantry, move forward as people who have faced their fears and overcome them.  
 Through the Biblical writings of Joshua, God urges us to, ‘Be strong!  Be courageous!  Do not be afraid … For the Lord your God will be with you.  He will neither fail you nor forsake you.”  (Joshua 1: 6 – 9. LB) 
 

---