I’ve been looking at what the Apostle Paul meant when he spoke these words to the church at Corinth:
His actual words were: “Act like men.” As I’ve looked deeper into the meaning of that phrase, I’ve discovered two paths that lead us to that goal. That’s what we’re exploring. Right now, we’re on the path with the signage: COURAGE.
We’ll get to MATURITY………………….eventually.
So far, we’ve learned that courage = doing the next right thing. Or, in King David’s words, courage = doing the work. Fear often gets in the way; so does discouragement. When we set the expectation bar too high, or the work takes longer than we want, or there are too many hurdles to jump over, or we have an enemy to distract us, courage wanes. It does. I know. I’ve been there. At those times, it’s easy for resolve to retreat and hopefulness to get hobbled.
Author, Paul David Tripp has said this, “Discouragement preaches a false gospel…” OH! YES! IT DOES! I’ve heard it’s story repeated over and over and over, cycling around in my brain, until it picks up speed, and becomes a total tornado of despair. When it gets to that point, I’ve lost all God-awareness. So, that’s when Paul steps in, and stops the cycle, with some pretty strong words: “Man-up! (Grow up! Drop the bottle! Saddle up anyway! Have courage! Do the next right thing!) Whatever you do…don’t wallow.”
With that reminder, there are two other things to pay close attention to on Courage Path. We’ll only get to the first:
“…the Lord God, my God, is with you.”
Here was last week’s focal verse.
These were David’s words to Solomon.
They were also Moses’ words to Joshua.
Joshua passed them on to Caleb.
Your God. My God. The Sovereign, Omnipresent Lord, is with us. ALWAYS!
Seen, or unseen…
Heard, or unheard…
Felt, or unfelt…
He NEVER leaves us or forsakes us.
In this truth, alone, belief and courage rise up when discouragement starts to preach that false gospel.
David knew it to be true. When someone is offering a dying declaration, we can know for a fact, that they aren’t blowing smoke. They aren’t lying. There’s no time left for anything but honesty. So what David said, he KNEW!
David experienced this truth in the Valley of Elah with a giant, named Goliath, and he acted on it. Joshua knew it at the battle of Jericho, and did the next right thing, watching the walls come tumbling down. Joseph believed it’s truth in the belly of an Egyptian prison, when he was tempted to discouragement, and watched God deliver him, and place him second in command of the entire nation. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel, all lived in this promise; and, the Babylonians had never seen such a deliverance-dance! I’ve seen it to be true, time and time again, when the Lord takes over my inadequate mouth and allows me to get in on something that is simply, “BEYOND ME!” In fact, I have an “altar of remembrance” to this truth in my back yard (you can’t see it, but etched in this heart-shaped rock one of my former dorm boys hauled out of the mountains for me is my declaration of God’s loving and grace-filled presence: beyond me).
We can always stop the discouragement cycle, because GOD IS WITH US. Not, just any “little g” god; no, MY GOD!!! Say it over and over until it goes from your head to your heart. MY GOD IS WITH ME!!! The problem is, like me, when discouragement is preaching, you forget, don’t you? So, we need to plant that truth deeply in our hearts, and preach it louder than the screams of discouragement to ourselves. We have to pray it. We have to live as if we believe it. GOD IS WITH ME! That’s part of Paul’s plea to “man-up church!” Maintain your spidey-senses for God’s presence…He is there in the midst of any hard you experience.
I’ll finish today with this quote from Paul Tripp:
” The God who calls us to a radical new way of living, meets us with radical
EMPOWERING GRACE!
(emphasis mine)”
You’ll have to come back next week for the other thing we need to remember on Courage Path….
