SPF 161: Courage

September 24, 2020

There is a lot of work to be done as a faithful believer and woman of Christ, but how do we get up the courage to do some of these tasks, especially the ones that aren’t popular or exalted by the world’s standards. Today I am going to share a few insights on courage and a few practical ways we can grow in being courageous.

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Courage

Definition from 1828 Webster Dictionary:

COURAGE, noun [Latin , the heart.] Bravery; intrepidity; that quality of mind which enables men to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear or depression of spirits; valor; boldness; resolution. It is a constituent part of fortitude; but fortitude implies patience to bear continued suffering.
COURAGE that grows from constitution, often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty, acts in a uniform manner.
Be strong and of good courage Deuteronomy 31:6.

If courage grows by how we feel, feelings change. When we are supposed to be courageous we may not feel like being courage, even if the courageous thing is the good thing to do. However, if we know what our duty is, we know what our responsibilities are toward God and others, those things don’t waver like feelings. we can be resolute to do those things regardless of how we feel because we are trusting in God’s holy word and not our deceptive hearts.

Courage is bravery to act that grows from a sense of duty. For the Christian, we are called to be strong and of good courage because our confidence is in the Lord and in His commands. We know what our duties are as Christian women according to the Word, and we put our trust in the Lord and do them.

Psalm 112
2 Chronicles 31-34

Courage in 2 Chronicles

There were many kings who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord – here are some things we can learn about courage from them:

They sought the Lord.
God established the work of their hands – the results weren’t up to the Kings. They were called to be strong in the Lord and to fear Him and obey Him. And when they did there was success.
They used the knowledge they had from the law, and the word from prophets to share with others to encourage them.

Morning and Evening – Charles Spurgeon

“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.”
Psalm 112:7

Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?

Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?

Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God’s high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”