Godly Courage

At my EDGE Corps training in December, Lindy Black spoke on Godly courage. She had several good points, but the last one really hit me. "Godly courage is the opposite of discouragement." Whoa. If I were to choose one word to describe how I've felt the past 5 months, it would be discouraged. I've been discouraged about my job, discouraged about my friend with cancer, discouraged about friendships which fail to go deeper, just discouraged. And, as Lindy spoke about Godly courage, I started to feel discouraged about how discouraged I've been.

Thankfully, Lindy had some thoughts about growing in Godly courage. One thought she shared was that when the bible talks about courage, it talks about taking courage. Courage is not something God sprinkles on me from above when He feels like it. Courage is something He offers, which I must take. Psalm 27:14 says "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Be strong. Take heart. Take courage. And wait expectantly for God to work.

I'm not one for New Years Resolutions; they seem to get lost by about mid-January. But, at the beginning of this new year, I feel I'm at a crossroads. My job is still here, my friend still has cancer, my friendships still call. Circumstances just haven't changed much for me from 2006 to 2007. So, do I continue on in discouraged fashion, wishing God would swoop in from heaven and change things? Or, do I take up Godly courage, waiting for the Lord? I pray that it's the latter.