True courage is not the absence of fear. It is going forward even in the presence of fear. In the same way, a truly courageous person is not the one who does not feel fear, it is indeed the one who continues with a course of action even though their knees are knocking together.
True inner strength is not the ability to appear strong. It is not the ability to deal well with something with which you are accustomed dealing. Really it isn't.
For instance, a person who is a good communicator with good oration (speaks well) doesn't need to put much effort into speaking before a group of people. They may need to calm their nerves a bit but for them the act of speaking is probably a joyous one. Think now to what happens to a person with a stammer. I was so inspired watching the movie 'The King's Speech'. I was so inspired when a young man in church who speaks with a stammer, spoke on behalf of the young people the other day. Man what courage that must have taken for him to do that!
I think some of the most courageous people that I have met or heard of have been people who seemed weak at the time.
How often do we laugh at the person who speaks with a stammer, or been impatient with the person who isn't as quick or capable as we are?
It might not take you and I much courage to walk down the street, but what courage does it take the blind person who has to walk with a cane or a seeing eye dog down a street that they cannot see.
The trouble is, how many of us don't see them as brave? How many of us see them as inconvenient, or even stupid?
Often, us human beings, think that because we have good things going for us (we are good looking, smart, physically sound, have good jobs, even have good morals, maybe we even give money to the poor) we are special or superior to others.
Honestly... how many times have we looked down our noses at those who are not as smart, not as beautiful, not as weathly, not as moral as we are?
Honestly... how much more courage does one need to wake up each morning and live life when you know that there is something real that makes life more difficult for you to do simple things? Probably a lot!
I had friends who struggle with something serious. The kinds of thing that people look down their noses at others for (sometimes). I have to confess that I think those friends are brave people. Why? They chose to look their 'problem' in the face and to tackle it... regardless of what others think.
It may be time that I learn from my own fears. Learn what God is working on in my life, learn more about myself. Perhaps in doing this, I will find the courage to face the fears, and then to look at the God that is bigger than my fear. Maybe then I will find the courage, to embrace my destiny.
J
