I had a chat with a friend about courage
and bravery. In general, society
attributes bravery to those who have masculine qualities – they kill things,
conquer things, face danger without flinching.
They are strong in physique and sharp in mind and strategy. They put themselves in harm's way for those
they defend. They fight for the right
with no regard to the danger or the enemy or even much to the fall out of their
actions. They do not cry and cannot show
weakness. They can do it all and handle
it perfectly.
Usually, we think of the tough guy that
went out to save somebody as brave. I’m
not a tough guy. And in many senses, I
would consider myself far from brave. However,
I know that I have been given courage.
Courage might not look like a battle scene from Lord of the Rings. Courage might look like getting up out of the
bed and doing dishes. No one will glory
in that. It takes courage and a brave
heart sometimes to face our own fallenness and sin or to face betrayal and
abandonment or loss and take any next steps.
Though it comes with seemingly no glory, this too is courage and
bravery. This walking in weak steps of
faithfulness is still killing things, conquering things. It is killing the flesh that would rather our
spirits shrivel and die. It is
conquering lies that threaten to choke out all joy. It is facing the fear of today and tomorrow
by trusting in the One who holds them.
No one gets glory for getting out of bed
and facing the day. For those who have
been wounded deeply, it takes courage.
This courage and strength come from our King and Savior God. In our own churches, in our circles of
friends, we know many people that we could say – “I don’t know how you lived
through that. I know I couldn't.” These
people trusting God and walking forward are also heroes of the faith. The burnt out mamas who still get up through
the night to nurse crying babies and face the next day alone to play with
toddlers and make meals and teach children…. These are heroes. They are fighting for our future too. These are the brave. And they don’t just face the battle for a
short season – it is the battle of a lifetime.
They show up despite the worn state and fight again. This is bravery and courage.
*Note:
This is not to say that there are not times of rest an retreat and
recovery; part of being able to fight well is to know our limitations and to
heal when we need to heal….thinking of the long term rather than the short.
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