Strong and Courageous

I'm reading the book of Joshua right now with my God Mom and so last night got started with the first chapter and the concept of courage. It's kinda got my brain churning on the topic.

Cause see, I think being "Strong and Courageous" as a believer in some ways is rather different than the meaning and impact in general culture.

The dictionary defined courage as: The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.

So basically it's the ability to stand up, to persist, to act based on what you know or believe.

And in life that can be pretty scary and hard, because so much in life is relative and do we really know anything, or can we really stand on what we know, do we really trust our judgment or our sources or our logic, etc.

But as a Christian, we have a totally reliable undeniable source of Truth in the Bible. And we have the Spirit within us to help us to interpret that Truth and to guide us if we start to head astray. So really, our sources are absolute, our Trust absolute. So when God tells (not asks) us to be strong and courageous, it would seem He is asking us to put our actions where our faith is. The challenge here is not in deciding if the source is valid or if the risk is worth it... the challenge is will we act based on what we believe, or will we fall prey to fear and doubt.

So in some ways, i think its a lot easier for us as Christians to BE courageous, because we have the undeniable Truth, but on the other hand, it really polarizes the concept of courage to be about our own struggle with fear and doubt.. which is a very real and very challenging struggle.

Makes me think. So I just figured I'd share.