Courage

Courage is not the absence of fear. Rather it is staring at it…knees shaking… eyes watering and nearly crying… lips quivering… heart pounding… and then in that one moment, digging your heels down deep into the soil … squaring your shoulders back and head forward…and with one thrust from a made up mind you realize … you were made for this moment. The Almighty has designed it and He has called your number out. He has prepared you and trained to conquer. And so with knees shaking… eyes watering and nearly crying… lips quivering and heart pounding…you move forward into the eye of the storm. Armed with Faith, you press on believing that though you may not come out of this whole mess the way you envisioned, you know in your heart that after the battle, you will break out victorious and shaped just like the master had planned.

Perhaps some will take pity. Others will question you faith; debate its veracity and dismiss the same as foolishness or just plain crazy. Many offer a shoulder to cry on and an encouraging word. And though you resist and decline the offer, in your heart you slump in the comfort of their emotional arms. You are wounded and hurt. You cry out in despair after looking at the spoils that are left from your battle yet down in your heart of hearts you rest in the knowledge that you came out of the war exactly in the way the Almighty planned it. And so you rest awhile. You attend to your wounds. The man inside you says” enough”! But there’s a fire inside you that says, “Let’s do this again”! You yearn to stare at fear again. Your heart desires to feel your knees shaking… eyes watering and nearly crying… lips quivering… heart pounding… and then the battle cry! The only thing that stands between you and your victory is your faith…no not even your enemy. He is but a mere tool in this whole war. You understand that the battle for life is not complicated by a dangerous enemy but rather a weak faith.

And so you rise again. You put on your battered armor one a piece at a time. You look to your left and then to your right. You see you’re not alone after all. Other soldiers beside you are ready to go. They have the same fire in your eyes. Their knees shaking… eyes watering and nearly crying… lips quivering… heart pounding… and then in that one moment, just like you, you dig your heels down deep into the soil … squaring your shoulders back and head forward…and with one thrust from a made up mind you realize … you were made for this moment.

Injured…hurt…and in pain…yet just the same – Victorious!

Courage… you were born for this!

Such is life…