On a run to the Baltic Sea last week, the Lord planted a seed in my mind about a lifestyle of courage over a lifestyle of comfort. Living in the former will almost always mean you have to sacrifice the latter. Each time the Lord calls us to obedience, calls us to action, doesit not require courage?
Not worldly courage, but a kingdom courage that means we are constantly submitted to, depending on, and reassured of our identities in the Lord.
And often, these calls of the Lord mean we must abandom what is know, what is familiar, what is comfortable to us.
In Joshua 1:9-11, we see the Lord instructing Joshua and the nation of Israel to be courgageous, to not be discouraged, to not be afraid, but to trust that the Lord would be with them. But this passage also shows that God was calling His people to move into the land He had set aside for them.
This was definitely outside of their comfort zone. They didn't know the land, they hadn't seen it's resources, but they knew there were foreign people there who wouldn't want the Jewish nation coming in to claim that land.
So they were called to courage. the Lord said: "don't be discouraged." We often interpret this word as disappointed or scared or depressed. But what if He means for us to not let anything take our courage away. Not even bring us to a place of apathy or indifference.
The Lord is saying that we, as His children, have courage as a part of our identity. It is the lifestyle that He intends for us to live in.
If you read my blog I Screwed Up – I Said No, you will recall that in a time of the Lord calling me to tell a man that Jesus loved him, I chickened out. I chose comfort over courage. But in that moment, what I really forgot was my identity.
It's not that we choose comfort, it's that we don't realize that courage is built into us, that the Holy Spirit inside of us is the courage that we need to trust that God will move, and move powerfully. Courage isn't something we muster up, as the world says, it is part of who we are as sons and daughters.
God will continually call us to move into a place where we are to influence those around us, and to be love to people. But that will require us to abandon comfort. Be encouraged though! Courage is a part of who you are!
"My God's not dead, He's surely alive- roaring like a lion."
Well then, so are we.
