"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." ~C.S. Lewis
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." ~Mary Anne Radmacher
"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare." ~Mark Twain
I've been thinking a lot about courage, and what it means in the face of today's people. My son, Jordan, is heading off for Afghanistan to face the rigors of war. I've heard of other mom's doing this, seeing a child headed for battle; I never thought I'd be one of them. I don't question Jordan's courage; I definitely question mine.
To me, courage is confronting an enemy in every form, and standing firmly anyway. It means that we don't think this situation that we're in is the end of all things...but rather a new door to "grow" us, to "faith" us, to "mercy" us...whether at school, at home, or in foreign lands.
On a day-to-day basis, students face fears of acceptance, fears of failure, fears of losing or letting down peers, and fears of their own education and futures in today's world. These are valid. How we react in each step of growth creates in us something marvelous, if we've used the Bible as our standard.
Psalm 46:10 says to, "Be still, and know that I am God." We are called to put our everything into God's hands. THIS takes courage...to believe that an entity beyond ourselves cares enough to do ALL things for good.
Courage is a call for faith in unseen things. It is a call for tenacity. It is a call for endurance to the end.
"Tenacity is more than hanging on, which may be but the weakness of being too afraid to fall off. Tenacity is the supreme effort of a man refusing to believe that his hero is going to be conquered." ~ Oswald Chambers
Courage is the ability to put our futures into God's hands expecting the very best to occur. It is working deliberately and daily on the certainty that God will not be bested.
Sometimes, the events that occur take our breath away...this surely can't be God! But purification takes time, of which God has bucket loads. We pray to stand firmly in knowing that He is in control despite that which our eyes may see.
"Yes, before the day was, I am He; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder or reverse it?" Isaiah 43:13
