GOOD COURAGE

Be strong and of GOOD COURAGE: for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them – Joshua 1:6 (NKJV)        

Joshua stood at the threshold of a destiny-turning point in his life. God wanted him to step into the ‘giant-sized’ shoes of Moses and he felt inadequate. It took divine encouragement and command that he must be strong and of good courage for him to get ready to possess the good success ordained for him. Success favours the bold and courageous. Hardly anything of note can be achieved in life without: the courage to try; the courage to begin; the courage to continue; the courage to persist; the courage to resist every opposition; the courage to fight; and the courage to complete a task or finish a race.

Courage is a spiritual force – born of God’s Spirit – not merely associated with our reasoning faculties. Courage rises above circumstances, above natural facts, and dominates! It is that force which can face defeat and still rise from the mat fighting. It is the fighting heart, the fighting spirit, the conquering spirit, the dominating spirit that refuses to be defeated. When your head says, “It is all over, you might as well throw in the towel”; when  the natural senses have given up the fight altogether, courage says, “It’s just beginning.” In the eyes of courage, it is utterly impossible to conceive of defeated or of giving up!

Every truly successful person has made courageous decisions, and taken bold steps of faith. Courage is needed to achieve life’s set goals, but there is also the courage to fail and rise again. Infants display this kind of courage when they are learning to walk. They encounter falls, injuries and failures at a shattering rate, a rate that later in life would discourage almost anyone from learning a new activity, yet they always rise and try again and again. God wants you to maintain this youthful courage – that’s Good Courage. Never in your maturity become inflexible. Moreover, it is wise to cultivate the Company of the courageous – especially the Company of the Source and Giver of Courage Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ!