Fear and Courage – Two Sides of the One Coin
You and I both are confronted on a regular basis by things that scare us. It’s just the way that life is.
Sometimes, it’s something that just hits us out of the blue. A health scare. A financial crisis. A relationship thing. A work thing.
Other times, it’s something that God’s called us to do and we think to ourselves – Is God crazy? Why does He want me to do this? Why has He called me into this place? Doesn’t He realise how scary this is?
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
And the moment we experience fear, we immediately assume that we lack either the power to do what God’s called us to do, or the courage to do it, or both.
The moment we taste fear, we assume we’re a failure!
But the fact is that fear and courage are two sides of the one coin. When you think about it, unless there’s something to be afraid of, who needs courage?
Maybe it’s axiomatic that courage simply cannot exist, unless it does so in the face of fear. How’s that for a reality check?!
Don’t know if you know the story of Gideon in the Old Testament. God’s people were in something of a pickle. There was a massive – and I mean a massive army against them. Totally overwhelming odds. The enemy numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
God needs a man who can lead His army against the enemy. So He goes to Gideon. Now Gideon was a great choice because he was a man of strength – a mighty warrior (Judges 6:12). And what’s Gideon’s immediate response?
Why is God letting this happen? I can’t possibly lead an army against this massive enemy!!
And if you read Gideon’s story for yourself, you discover his reactions are those of fear and doubt and uncertainty. Gideon takes some convincing. Despite being a mighty warrior, it turns out Gideon is just as human, just as frail, just as afraid … as thee and me. (I love that!)
The courage, the resolve, the preparedness to lay his life on the line only come as God faithfully, gently, tenderly leads him through his fears.
It seems to me that fear is an incredible opportunity.
The opportunity not just to experience God’s power to do the things we can’t do, but to be given a supernatural courage. The sort of courage that only comes from Him!
Your message today really spoke to me. This is something I have really been struggling with. Feeling fearful immediately something very demanding pops up. My immediate response is: “But I can’t do this. I don’t have the skills. I don’t have the energy. I don’t have what it takes.” It has taken so many repeats of being in this situation and battling through trying to work it out by myself (not without lots of battle scars) until I am finally realising: Just go to God and ask him for help straight away. Ask for courage. Ask for peace of mind. And believe that he will give it to you. And he does. I am sure that my battle with myself isn’t over. I am like a stubborn dog who doesn’t want to learn the command: Stay. I will have to be reminded over and over again. But when I experience that peace, it is wonderful! Thanks for your great insights.
Vanessa,
our natural response is very similar to that of Moses’ when God called him to lead His people out of captivity in Egypt. Seems we can all rattle off quite a number of excuses as fear immobilises us.
The point is that God’s grace truly is sufficient for us. And when we’re faced with impossible odds, the point isn’t for us to imagine that we need to overcome those in our own strength. We can’t!
The point as that God wants to grow our faith by letting Him do the things that we can’t. Hmmm …. I think I can feel another blog post coming on!
🙂
Bless ya
Great word Bernie…….Everyday as a senior pastor or in other everyday experiences ” fear is the mind killer” and without His strength on a daily basis many opportunities would be missed May He continue to empower and embolden each of us with His wonderful Courageous Spirit. Blessings my friend
Thanks for the comment Greg. That’s a great insight. Fear is definitely a mind killer – and it stops us from going and doing what God’s called us to do.
Berni