BE OF GOOD COURAGE

Here's a picture of me and my friend Josie standing on a plexiglass ledge about 1700 feet in the air. We took a trip to Chicago and this is one of the views from the Sears tower. Everything in my body was telling me that there was something very wrong with walking out there, but I did it anyway. A sistah was definitely skerred at first, but once I was out there, it was such an awesome feeling.


Mark Twain once wrote:
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.

And how true is that?! You don't have to be courageous if there is nothing to be afraid of. Sometimes I think that when fear shows up, it's a good indicator that whatever we're thinking about doing could be really important. Now, I'm not talking about things that we consider EXTREME like jumping off buildings or skydiving. I'm talking about living your life. Working toward changing your job instead of looking for excuses. Rising above what everyone else tells you is the "right thing to do" and doing God's will instead. Standing on the top of a mountain and proclaiming who you are instead of constantly going with the crowd. That's courage. And that's what we have to do every day.

There are so many times in my life, more than I can count. when I woke up afraid that this is all there is, afraid that I'm wasting time, afraid that everything inside me that says I need to keep going is wrong. And on those days, so many times, I've let fear get the best of me. I've let that fear stop me, the "what ifs", and the "what will people think" questions stop me right in my tracks. So, I pray for God to get rid of the fear. I pray that it just goes away. But, then, who needs courage? If there's no fear, it's all easy breezy.

Last time I checked, no one was inspired by those that always had it easy. The people that I look up to had to overcome obstacles: Jesus, Paul, Moses, Abraham, Joshua, to name a few. More recently, Mandela, Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King, Jr. You know how many times the Bible says to "be of good courage"? I have never seen a verse that says, give your life to the Lord, it will be all rainbows and kitty whiskers after that. (sorry to burst your bubble). But, the Lord gives us strength. It's like a life vest. Sure we still have to go through the rapids, but He gives us what we need to make it where we need to go.

Let's get this straight. It's hard to have faith. It is difficult to walk by faith and not by sight. It sho ain't easy to believe that God can somehow use you in His amazing plan. I struggle with that every single day. But, I know how far He brought me. I know that He loves all of His children. I know that He gives me a peace that surpasses all understanding. I know that His ways are waaay better than my ways. (I've tried doing things my way. Didn't quite work out). So, it's time to take that step out on the glass ledge. It's time to keep going even with fear standing in the way. So, uh, looka here fear, I want you to meet my friend Courage. He wants to have a Word witcha.