The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! – Acts 23:11

I have observed that courage comes from our perspective of the source of our strength. If I believe that I have the ability and power to do something, I am strong and courageous. I do not fear, but I am bold to step forward to confront any situation. However, I have also found that my courage has its limits. The bigger truth is that I am really courageous when I acknowledge that the ability and power I have come from the Lord and not me. That confession makes me fall on His almighty power that overcomes everything. My courage has often dissipated when, in my own worked-up ability and strength, I have confronted a situation and then recognized that there are issues bigger than myself. I believe many people have lost it that way. But whenever I have moved in His ability and power, I am able to look past that situation according to His faithful word that says, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13). That is where I find company with some great names in the Bible.

Joshua was the understudy of Moses from Egypt through the forty years wilderness merry-go-round journey to the Promised Land. The young disciple victoriously led the ragtag army of the new nation Israel in the battle of Rephidim against the Amelekites (Ex. 17:8-13). He brought a positive report with Caleb, against ten other scouts who caused the people to rebel with severe consequences (Nu. 14:1-45). Now, Moses was dead and God called Joshua to lead Israel into the Promised Land. Those were big shoes for Joshua to fill and so he received the call with great trepidation (Joshua 1:6, 9, 18). What was his problem? Joshua was looking to himself rather than the One who called him. So God encouraged Joshua to look past himself and focus on Him. He promised to be with Joshua as He was with Moses (Joshua 1:5). “Be strong and courageous” (6, 7, 9), God said. In other words, strength and courage come from being God-focused. To direct this focus, God opened the River Jordan at flood stage (3:15-16) in the manner of the Red Sea crossing – a miracle that strengthened Joshua’s courage.

Another weak young man was Gideon, who looked at himself and saw his clan as “the weakest in Manasseh”, and himself as the least in his family (Judges 6:15). Fear drove him to hide and thresh wheat in a winepress until God called and assured him of His presence against Midian (11-14). Gradually, Jehovah-shalom (24) shifted Gideon’s focus away from himself and strengthened him to defeat Midian. Don’t we all need that?

After Paul’s appearance before the Sanhedrin that turned violent (Acts 3:1-10), the Lord stood by him in the night and told him to be courageous because Paul had to testify about Him in Rome (11). When the ship he was being transported on to Rome as prisoner got caught in the nasty storm, Paul asked the crew and passengers to keep up their courage (Acts 27: 20- 25). His confidence was in God’s faithful promise to deliver them (25b), and that’s what he shared with them.  

That courage is our heritage in Christ Jesus, and effected by the Holy Spirit, as on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4; 2 Tim. 1:7). In Him, we are strong and courageous. He is our mighty strength (Eph. 1:19, Phil. 4:13). We are dressed for battle in His armor (Eph. 6:10-18), and equipped with weapons that “have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4). He is “the King Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God”, who deserves honor and glory (1 Tim. 1:17).

When we fix our eyes on Jesus who is the “Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2) instead of our feeble selves, we are strong and courageous against every opposition. It doesn’t matter where hope has taken flight; “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rm. 8:37). What more can we ask for?