"Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9 NKJV)
This passage comes from the first chapter of the book of Joshua. Immediately proceeding this scripture, God tells Joshua to take His people into the promised land. As you can read, God then tells Joshua three times to "be strong and of good courage." The final directive is to be strong and of good courage because The Lord God is with you wherever you go. On this trip, I have found that when following God, being strong and of good courage comes easily.
I titled this post "unknown courage" because of something our contact in Malaysia kept telling us. Every time we talked about being in Gua Masang, our contact would commend our courage. For a long time, I did not understand what he was talking about and believed he simply meant our courage to give up all we knew to come to a foreign land. However, I was wrong. (Mom and Dad may want to stop reading at this point).
Towards the end of our time in Malaysia our contact expounded on what he meant when he commended our courage. The state in which we stayed is called Kelantan. This Malaysian state is ruled by a radical muslim political party. But for the strong arm of the other ruling parties of Malaysia, Kelantan would be a completely radical muslim stronghold like many we hear about in other parts of the world. As such, we were not winning any popularity awards by being western Christians. Additionally, we heard that other states ban criminals and radicals to Kelantan to get them out of their state. Needless to say, Kelantan is not where I would recommend your next family vacation.
I have often wondered how the heroes of the Bible could face down huge armies and go into lands full of giants that wanted them dead. Also, I have wondered how people have faced deadly consequences without flinching in the name of Jesus. However, I am finding that when you follow Jesus as close as you can…all you can see is Him. Courage comes easy because He hides and protects you from the dangers. The giants are dead and the battles are won before you realize the extent of the danger you were in. It is not that the danger is not there…you are just protected from the fear and worry associated with the danger. Outsiders see you as courageous (or crazy), but God hides you under the protection of His wing so that you feel as safe in a radical muslim state as you do at home.
None of this is said to downplay the sacrifices of the Christian martyrs that have gone before us. Nor am I trying to say that nothing bad can happen to Christians doing God's work. We all know that bad things do happen. However, I fully believe that when holding on to God as tight as possible, the courage will be there to face any test.
