Courage is the moral and mental strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. We need God’s Spirit in order to be courageous, for in Him there is supernatural power and strength. We find repeated exhortations in Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, about being courageous, and we’ll look at some of these. Notice, though, that in the New Testament ‘having courage’ is also translated ‘be of good cheer’, as in John 16:33.
The 12 spies were told to have courage when they searched out the land of Canaan. When Moses was near the end of his life, he exhorted Israel to proceed in the conquest of the land promised to them. With courage (which is the fruit of faith in God) they were to go forth in battle. Joshua had some pretty big sandals to fill, but Moses told him to have courage because the Lord would be with him. Indeed, after Moses died the LORD Himself assured Joshua that He would be with him just as He had been with Moses, and based on that reality, three times God exhorted him to be strong and courageous. Was he? Well, when the Gibeonites were attacked by the five kings of the Amorites, they called on Joshua for help. Joshua obeyed the LORD and attacked the Amorites, obtaining a great victory by the LORD. He then used the victory to encourage in the LORD the men who followed him.
Church, our Joshua (Jesus) will give us the courage and all that we need to witness for Him and face enemy attacks. Men, married or single, old or young, rich or poor – we all need to be true men of God for our families, cities, and congregations. God will do what is right in His sight. He will do good. When Solomon saw the overwhelming task of building the temple before him, David told him to have courage because the Lord would be faithful to him.
Saints, if Jesus is Lord of your life, then ‘He who has begun a good work in you will complete it’. Courage is ours when we mix faith with God’s word. Asa heard, took courage, and did what was right. So today, ‘Be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart’.
