Why do we need courage?

Why do we need courage?

Our daughter has been struggling with fear and anxiety, it seems to get worse the older that she gets...I see myself in her. I see her heart and her fear and know that to her it is real when to us it may seem completely irrational and out of control...I wonder if that's how God looks at our fears? Like a child who runs to their mom or dad when storm clouds start building, the storm has not even arrived, there has been no thunder or rain but just knowing that the storm clouds are growing sends them into a panic....we comfort them just like God comforts us, even though we know the storm will pass and that we are safe there is still fear. 

We need courage as Christians in the large and the small things of life...whether we are facing new changes ahead (like bringing home a new baby) or whether we are facing difficulties or impossibilities. Facing our fears or anxieties down with courage offers us a renewed hope in Christ, knowing He will never leave our side. 

Deuteronomy 31:6 

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, For the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." 

In our lives we have faced trials, tragedy, big challenges and small ones...

Even in that God has always shown His hand, always proven himself faithful we need Him. We can testify to what He has done in our home and through those around us even in the most impossible of situations....it takes courage to know stand up and say I know that even though it looks bad God is still there. 

This question also put through my mind a young lady that means so much to our family who is spending her summer serving Christ in what may seem like an impossible place. A place that to us may look like it has no hope but God has given her a vision of hope for the people that she is serving. God has given her courage to step out into a strange country, a totally different culture and environment to serve and lead others to Christ. 

It makes me think of all these young ladies in my small group who are graduating from high school in the coming weeks, who have been with me for some time who have heard Gods word in our small group class. Graduation is one the of the scariest times in your life, I think that I was more afraid when I graduated than I was when I got married or had our first child. You are facing life for the first time on your own, as an adult with no one to hold your hand or tell you what direction to take. Courage....These girls need courage to know that there are challenges ahead, that life is not as easy as it may seem. They need courage to stand for Christ and what they have been spending these years learning and the courage to USE it and put it into ACTION as they start college, and eventually start jobs, get married, and have families of their own. 

Its not just something we need when we are afraid of a storm but courage is something we need as we face every day in the small things....some days as a homeschool mom we need a lot of courage to get through the school day! 

Courage is defined as the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear or difficulty. 

We can know that the roads ahead will be filled with challenges and we can know that our paths will change and our lives will change but it takes courage to face that....and why can we have courage? because Gods word tells us that He is always there with us no matter what we are facing.