Courage

“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right…” 

-Ronald Reagan

Today, we are being challenged like never before to be afraid - to compromise our faith, freedom, convictions, and the word of God. It would be so easy to compromise just a little here and there so we can be politically correct, accepted, not thought of as weird, etc, etc, etc. I am not suggesting what you should believe, say, or stand for. What I am suggesting, however, is whatever you believe, whatever you know is true, whatever you know as God’s truth; to stand and not back down - no matter what the cost.  

Those that know me, know I joke that I’m 39, but it’s incredible to me that anyone that young can have the eloquence, wisdom, and courage to say something as deeply moving and poignant as below: 

“You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid… You refuse to do it because you want to live longer… You're afraid that you will lose your job, or you’re afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you're afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot at you, or bomb your house; so you refuse to take the stand. Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you’re just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. ”

-Martin Luther King

Maybe your challenge today isn't a lack of courage to stand up for your moral convictions. Maybe your challenge is to have the courage to do something that you believe in, something you know you are supposed to do, perhaps a dream God has given to you - but you don't because you are afraid for various reasons. Someone once said that life begins at the end of our comfort zone. Rosa Parks, another courageous person said, “Without a vision people perish but without courage dreams die.” 

Maybe today is the day to take a stand and start living. 

"For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, love, and sound judgement. "

2 Timothy 1:7 NASB, greek notes

"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6-8, ESV