COURAGE May 24, 2020

The message we received today was on courage to face difficulties.  At no other time is it more applicable than now, what with the whole world facing all kinds of difficulties—health and safety, financial, emotional, relational, and general anxiety towards the future.

The Scripture used was one of my most favourite, Joshua 1:1-9, particularly the part in which GOD told Joshua not to be afraid, to be courageous to face whatever difficulties life throws at him, and just obey HIS Word because GOD will be with him all his days and give him success in everything he does.

The promise part is one worthy of anybody with sense enough to claim, but the challenge is more difficult. It entails reading and meditating on GOD’s Word throughout the day and night, and essentially living every moment, weighing and making every choice, whether big or small, against the standard of HIS word.  And this means literally reading the entirety of HIS word over and over and over, until it becomes the plumb-line by which we measure how our lives are turning out to be.

It is sad to see that far too many people have chosen the more mentally convenient way of life, that is, they refuse to listen to sound doctrine that for them are antiquated philosophies not applicable to the modern world.  In fact, even just reading the last book of the Bible, one can see that what we are experiencing now are written in its pages 2,000 years ago by a beloved apostle who was exiled in the island of Patmos in Greece for his faith and testimony, and even in very old age, was condemned to a life of toiling in the mines until his death.  It was during his days in the dark pits that he saw us today, and he too, talks about courage and perseverance.

Maybe many people are daunted by the word itself.  But courage is simply “fear that has said its prayers”, as the pastor said.  And if we want a life better than what we have now, we have to forget our former ways of living, much like the ancient Israelites had to let go of their lifestyles in Old Egypt and claim the land promised to them, even if it means fighting fierce and stronger nations.  Even until now that they have become a modern nation, they are still fighting for the promised land, and struggling to excel amidst powerful nations around them, ruled legally by wealthy kings and despots, defended by strong modern armies, with a deadly highly organized international network of strike-force operating underground fuelled by the world’s addiction to drugs, or what we so simply call, terrorists.  Yet, nobody in his right mind could say that the Israelites are a people who lack courage. (Even pop-culture’s Wonder Woman is an Israeli!)

The promise and the challenge are not for them alone. As GOD said that if we share Abraham’s faith, we too share in his blessings.  If we claim to worship the same GOD that he did, we can also claim the same promises, and are bound by the same challenges and responsibilities he had to overcome: be they people, cultures, ways of thinking, peer pressures, finances, settlements, familial harmony and relationships, uncertain future, plagues, sickness and death.

The pastor said that “In dangerous and difficult times, we don’t look around; we look up.”

Yes, we have to keep vertically aligned in order not to lose our focus that the present realities are not all there is; there is a greater and more glorious future ahead of us, if only we have the courage to learn, the courage the obey, the courage to move forward.

And so I share this verse that sums this all:

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so you may be careful to do everything written on it: for then, you shall be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed: for the LORD your GOD is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9)