Be Courageous

By Alexandra Copeland

Most of us have heard our fair share of messages on the abundance that Jesus Christ made available. We enjoy today an access to resources that is greater than it has been in perhaps all human history. More is available, and although poverty is still rampant in some areas, wealth is abundant in others. As we have gained in many areas of human development and intellect, everyday life has become packed with modern conveniences that most of us would never have imagined only a few years prior. We’re somewhat spoiled, and as we grow more indulgent, the reality of suffering for the Cross of Christ is becoming less and less palatable in our minds and hearts. 

 

Personally speaking, I tend to be an optimist, and I wasn’t born that way. I gradually came to be an optimistic person as my knowledge of Christ and what he accomplished for each of us increased. But even when I didn’t know what I know today, I have to keep it real and fess up to the fact that I still didn’t like the notion of suffering. My childhood was full of love and support from wonderful and caring people, but it was far from rosy. Like many adults today, there was childhood trauma in my background. When I was old enough to separate myself from it, my motivation was to never allow myself or my family to see what I saw, hear what I heard, or experience anything like the hurt I endured. 

As parents, we don’t want our children to ever experience pain. Our hearts are definitely in the right place, but today, more than ever, many of us shelter them a little too much. Again, speaking personally, as my son has matured into this amazing young man, I can also see that he has a tough time with areas where I’ve coddled him. I pray that ultimately, it isn’t counterproductive to his spiritual growth and maturity. We all have to hold our parenting up to the standard of Christ, and acknowledge and accept responsibility for the areas that we’ve not quite hit the mark. We also have to do this personally, regarding our own individual walks with Christ. 

We try to forget the sting of disappointments and heartaches as we get older. We also forget that struggle and strife are a part of life. We will face situations that will completely bring us to our knees, and in those moments of despair, we can feel very much alone. We’re not alone. God is with us; His grace and mercy will cover us in a way that leaves us forever changed and strengthened by His love. Just as we don’t want our children to suffer and have pain, how much more does our Heavenly Father want to spare all of us, His children, from it? He doesn’t want us to hurt, but just as He endured great sorrow at the death of His only begotten Son on the cross, He reveals to us that there is both great joy and pain in life. 

God reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18The Message (MSG) through the Apostle Paul to never loose sight of the truth during our difficult times. This passages tells us, “So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.”

Compared to Christ, anything that we suffer on earth is light affliction. As his followers, it will be necessary to surrender the heavy emotions we feel over to Jesus Christ through the courage to trust him. Every called-out child of the King should know what this level of faith entails. It is a total dependency on God, moment by moment. We are sometimes so sorrowful that every breath is laborious. These are the times where we can’t imagine there’s anything left from which to syphon strength or courage, where even the thought that commands our heart to beat seems too much to manage. 

As challenging as it may be to practice at times, there will forever be a call on our lives to lean on a faith that isn’t dependent on emotions; where God commands that we understand that every born-again believer has been given the faith of Jesus Christ. It isn’t about how we feel, it’s about what the Word tells us. God tells us that His Word will not fail us; therefore, our complete and total trust in His Word is required. 1Peter 2:21 (NLT) reminds us, “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.”

My great grandmother would often say, “Trouble doesn’t last always.” I watched her life as she lived it out in faith before my eyes. Her words brought me tremendous comfort because I saw the incredible difficulty she faced, with both physical and emotional hardships, but through it all she never allowed us to see her faith waver. In the minds of my family she was the strongest, and most courageous woman we had ever known; but later, when she shared with me the intimacy of her struggles, she told me that there were times she didn’t think she could hold it together. During those times, she decided to put the face of courage before us, even though she might not have felt it.

In Deuteronomy 31:6 (KJV), God told Joshua, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” God’s encouragement to Joshua was not to feel courageous, but to BE courageous. This is what our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ did. He came to this sinful world, not surrounded by the adornments of supreme majesty his royalty deserved. He limited his power. He lived and walked in humanity as a mere mortal, and relied on his faith in our Heavenly Father to extend to him the courage to do what had to be done.

Psalm 30:5 (KJV) says, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Life is not always a bed of roses, and even roses have thorns. Not only will we endure heartache, disappointment, and loss; but we will be persecuted, lied on, and talked about because we serve the One True God through Jesus Christ. God understands the pressure, and He’s not telling us to take courage for courage’s sake. He’s telling us to take courage because through Christ all things will work out for our good. Philippians 1:29 says, “For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.” Suffering is unavoidable in life, but in all these things, we will never be separated from God. He will never leave us or forsake any of us. We may not always feel courageous, but we can BE courageous through our faith in Him. ■ 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.