Grace to Be Strong and CourageousНамуна

Grace to Be Strong

Many believe courage requires physical strength. Firemen are courageous and strong.They carry 80 plus pounds of equipment while running upstairs in hot, smoky conditions. Soldiers are brave.They can carry grown men over their backs in a raging battle.  

Unfortunately, Hollywood has perpetuated a myth that true strength and courage belong to the elite. The Bible tells us differently. Consider Gideon, who was not only the youngest son but a member of the weakest clan. God called him a mighty warrior and called him to defend his people against a mighty oppressor. When Gideon counted himself as inadequate, the Lord instructed him to "Go in the strength you have…" (Judges 6:14) He risked everything to be obedient. That's courage.

Then there's Paul, who pleaded with the Lord several times to remove a "thorn" from him. We don't know what the thorn was, but Paul tells us it was torment. Paul was suffering, yet God's answer was, "My grace is sufficient for you." (II Cor 12:9) That's basically, 'Buck up little soldier and get on with it.'  So, he did.  It took great courage and strength to continue his purpose despite the distress.  Paul had God's grace to both endure and flourish.

I've learned God's grace isn't only favor and kindness, but God fully engaging with us as He relentlessly reaches toward us with blessings. Sufficient isn't "just enough or adequate". It's so much more! God's sufficiency is a supernatural help to us, defending us and providing unfailing strength to stand against danger or evil. God's sufficient grace is MORE than enough and makes us strong.

If ever put to the test, I hope to be brave like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they proclaimed with certainty that their God would deliver them. And yet, if He did not, they would serve no other God but THE GOD. Or like Esther, who was willing to fight for her people in the courts of the King. Esther and these young men were courageous and had grown in strength.

The Bible is full of such stories of men and women just like you and me who had the grace to be bold and courageous because they knew how to ACT in the strength they had cultivated within themselves through relationship with the one true God. You can be just as strong. Recognize HIS grace upon your life for such a time as this.