What area of your life requires courage?
Take a moment to consider that question.
The answer will reveal either your enemy or your idols.
There are real enemies in the world. Facing them requires courage.
We also likely have idols to appease; defying them – demolishing them – also requires courage.
We hesitate for fear we’ll have to stand alone but what Billy Graham once said is true:
“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”
In the book of Judges, the story of Gideon illustrates a time in the life of the Israelites when they were oppressed for seven years by an enemy tribe – the Midianites.
The Midianites worked to destroy the tiny nation of Israel by destroying their crops, starving them out.
When the angel of the Lord came to Gideon, he was hiding in a winepress to thresh wheat so as not to tip off the enemy that his family had food.
Imagine his shock when the angel referred to him as “mighty warrior.”
Gideon didn’t feel like a mighty warrior, starving for food and hiding on his own land. But, reality is not what we feel it to be – reality is what God says it is.
The angel told Gideon to go in the strength he had.
He knew Gideon’s strength was small and so it was – but he also knew what matters is not the size of our strength but the size of our God.
When God gave him an assignment that night – to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and the Asherah pole beside it (also dedicated to a false god), Gideon obeyed
but he did it under cover of night for fear of his family and the people of the town.
Gideon had a real enemy – the Midianites. And maybe, an idol, in fearing what his family and the townspeople would think.
It would take courage to face both.
When morning came, the townspeople, enraged at the destruction of their gods, demanded Gideon’s life.
But Gideon’s courage was contagious.
His father, Joash, came to Gideon’s defense. “If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.”
Pretty wild turn of events since it was his altar to Baal that Gideon had destroyed.
Perhaps Gideon’s ability to destroy the altar to Baal opened his father’s eyes to the truth of his own idolatry.
Perhaps Gideon’s courage helped his father remember the true God.
I don’t know but I do know the courage of one man acting on the small strength he had was pivotal
in changing the course of a nation,
inciting others to tear down their idols, and bringing people together to stand up to the real enemy.
So, I’ll ask again, what area of your life requires courage?
Perhaps you have to battle a true enemy.
Maybe first, you need to tear down some idols.
You may feel small and weak.
You may appear to be alone.
The reality of your circumstance and your abilities may not be apparent to you.
God knows the reality of who you are better than you do.
So seek Him on this.
Ask for courage.
Go in the strength you have.
Take a stand.
Tear down idols.
Gather troops.
Face the enemy.
What area in your life requires courage?
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I love your blog and how you hear the Lord. Each one that I have read so far has touched me. Thank you for sharing!
Lori, thank you. I look forward to your blog every time. I’m delighted to share this link on my FB page. This one is particularly apt. If you have God’s approval, you need no one else’s.
As always, Lori. Your words hit me right where I need it. I know God is tugging at me to be brave, to speak up, to need my approval to come only from Him. Thank you for sharing this today!
Lori: Thank you again. I needed those words of encouragement. God used your blog to comfort me and give me hope.
Thank you for sharing your heart! Your insights are GOD breath!!!