The Color of Courage

"When I grow up I want to be Edythe."  Edythe was old enough to be my mom.   She wore pearls, ruffles and skirts. I wore t-shirts, jeans and flip flops.  She had a warm and welcoming smile. She oozed grace and charm.  When I spoke she listened intently and always made me feel important.  So if she was leading an event, I was there.  I believed in the quality of anything Edythe was involved. 

I was a young pastor's wife looking for a role model.  Edythe was a wonderful example of a great partner for her husband.  She also demonstrated her deep and abiding faith.  I realized it wasn't her pearls or her grace and charm that I should imitate. The most important thing I learned from Edythe was life was about relationship with God.  It permeated her life and was evident to all.

"Joshua to Succeed Moses" is the section  heading in my Bible for Deuteronomy 31:1-8.  In those verses Moses does remind the Israelites of the good news and the bad news.  The bad, Moses will not be going to the Promised Land.  The good, Joshua will lead them over to the Promised Land and God will lead them to victory and give them the land.  Moses' words of wisdom to the Israelites was to be strong and courageous because God goes with them, always.  God will never leave or forsake them.

After my first read of these verses, I did jot in my journal "Moses passes the torch of leadership to Joshua."  Yet today these verses speak to me about courage and strength.  The declaration to be strong and courageous is frequent in this book.  It seems as though it is a command to be obeyed.

Today these verses remind me that strength and courage may not just be acts of obedience but the result of relationship with God.   The bedrock of strength and courage is my belief in God's constant love and care for me. 

The world tells me that strength and courage come from my grit and endurance.  I've often failed at summoning grit and endurance on my own.  I am quick to admit in some areas of my life I "have a yellow streak down my back."  Fear too often dominates me.

These verses assure me that courage does not come from my grit and determination but from my faith in God and in His Love, Might and Glory.  True Grit is living and walking in my relationship with God.  Courage and strength come from my dependence on The Eternal.

To obtain the Promised Land, the Israelites had to believe God would give it to them and to follow Him.  They lost the land when they started to rely on themselves and follow their own ways.

On the threshold of the greatest gift the Israelites would ever possess, the Promised Land, Moses was pointing them to God, as their leader and  giver.  He knew they would be challenged with this new experience and Fear would be their enemy.  The best defense against fear was to have a solid belief in God, who and what He was, is and will be.

I need to believe and walk, follow and depend.  That is my source of strength and courage.

I am going to think of the color yellow in the midst of fear as my reminder to believe God.

Y es, God is able to handle my challenge.

E xpect God to never leave or forsake me.

L ove God.

L ook to God.

O nly God knows.

W hy am I afraid with God going ahead and with me?