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FINDING COURAGE TO DO THE RIGHT THINGS
It seems to me courage, the theme of this Healthy Living, ought to be an easy topic to explore in a feature titled “Mencouragement.”
But looks are so often deceiving. My experience has been that most men have been painted by their families, culture and the media a picture of what society believes courage ought to look like. It is the fellow with pluck — the daring, audacious fellow with spunk — whom we often view as courageous.
But as a pastor, I see evidence of courage in some pretty unexpected places. You can see the gallantry and boldness of real courage in the nursing homes and assisted-living facilities around us. Fresh in my heart is the image of a husband standing beside his wife through her cancer, caring for her every need along the journey, and then watching helplessly as she slips into eternity.
Sometimes there are amazing illustrations of moral strength and courage displayed in small and quiet places that slip by us unnoticed: the courage of a person who decides he will pay his debts instead of file for bankruptcy and foreclosure; the choice of a husband to remain with his wife after she has admitted her unfaithfulness, and moving ahead in their marriage; the courage of parents with a handicapped child; the tenacity of a wounded soldier to pursue the grind of recovery.
They’re just a sample of powerful illustrations of courage.
Where does that determination of spirit and heart come from? Is courage actually something we just have to manufacture in our lives when life is hard, similar to the way our bodies produce adrenaline? I don’t think so.
I am soon to enter my sixth decade, and I have the perspective of a few years that tell me true courage, bravery, pluck — whatever you want to call it — comes from something more than just pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps.
James Taylor tells us “You’ve Got a Friend.” I agree. Friends are one source of genuine support when “wintertime seems so cold.” But they are not the originating source of our courage.
Webster’s definition — the ability to do something you know is difficult or dangerous — bothers me. My life experience tells me courage is not so much an ability, but rather a response: Courage is evidenced by the choices we make in light of brutal circumstances. We display our courage when we continue to live by our principles, by continuing to do what the Bible says is right, even if it is difficult, unpopular, or “friends” tell us otherwise.
Reflect on the bad advice Job’s wife offered him in the midst of his suffering and circumstances: “Curse God and die,” she told him. The book of Job shows us a man who had deep-seated courage that sprang from his conviction that God is in control of all of life (and death), and that God, because he is sovereign, can be trusted.
There are numerous men of courage in the Bible: Samson, who killed all the Philistines; Young David, who killed the mighty and fearsome Goliath. They were willing to sacrifice all for their convictions.
There is one other man of courage I must surely point you toward as the supreme example: Jesus Christ, the very picture of courage, because he remained faithful and sinless from birth through death, in spite of the burden of the sin of humanity and the reality he would be crucified and die in our places.
Courage, mencouragement, comes from living in light of truth, and by our conviction that doing what is right is what we must do. The hard truth is, it is not always easy. But it is what we must do, no matter what, if we are men of courage.
