Confidence & Courage

 

Eastertide : Confidence & Courage

This post seems to be very timely. But perhaps these themes are always timely. The world is always in a state of flux. Countries are always in a state of flux. Our human individual lives too often seem to be unhappily unsteady. Interestingly enough, everything the Bible has to say about confidence and courage starts off with overcoming fear!

If you are an SF person like me, you would know Dune, and might remember F Herbert’s classic line from the mouth of Mu’ad Dib as Paul Atreides at the time of his testing by the Bene Gesserit – ‘fear is the mind killer….’ That’s a good line. It is frighteningly true. I never bothered to check the stats on this, but I think there is a very good chance that one of the most common phrases in the Bible is the one that says ‘do not be afraid...’ it runs from the Old Testament entirely through the New. Not much talk about love in the Old Testament. But this thing about fear vs courage is always there. The human condition. If you have not done so, read the book of the same name by Hannah Arentz.

So we begin with a bit of quick thinking about fear. It has a positive side to it. As in the folk rock band America’s song “Don’t cross the river if you can’t swim the tide…” Courage is not about taking stupid risks in life. But it is about taking risks. And that is a very real life challenge! Fear is good when it makes us see a thing realistically. Legitimate fear is protective. Sure it may not be real, it may just be a perception. But it may not! Sometimes the timing is all that matters.

But it’s an emotion. And emotions are difficult to deal with, at best. You have such a range here – beginning with anxiety, agitation, distress, fright, panic, terror……wow! We each have to ask ourselves – what are our personal demons? What is it about our own personalities and psychological make-up that we have to learn how to overcome? And then begin on a course of overcoming, incrementally…

And as we turn to scripture, let me get one out of the way first. Every now and then you will come across someone who preaches or talks about being “God fearing” and “fearing Him who can destroy the soul” etc etc. Can it. Jesus’ words on this topic have been distorted and manipulated. You do not become a Christian because you do not want to go to hell. God is not interested in blackmailing you. The church? Read history. God is love. We will get to love in due course high up the Ladder! Then we will take apart the eros-agape etc distinctions…we are not in Greece anymore..we never were, come to that!

A second stone to kick out of the way – scripture verses will not build confidence nor courage. It’s an old showmanship trick. Only the power of the Holy Spirit in your life will. Words are words. The divine creative Word is not a word but a creative sound (you could say that it comes from a ‘spoken’ word from God – remember God does not speak as we do, and it is inextricably linked to the Holy Spirit – that Word is entirely different, but you really have to read John Ch 1 very carefully.

Ok. Let’s do a quick scripture run through.

Joshua 1:9 Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Context? Joshua inherits the mantle of leadership from Moses. Don’t forget context. It is one of the worst mistakes people make when trying to connect with scripture. It just does NOT ‘generally’ apply. You would have to be in a Joshua type situation that God put you in!

Ps 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom (what?) should I be afraid of? The Lord is the stronghold of my life  - of whom should I be afraid? Answer? No one! Unless you’ve been screwing around. Then you should be afraid, very afraid. No amount of prayer and fasting will take away the responsibility/accountability that you must face, whatever. 

Isaiah 41:10-13 So do not fear, for I am with you……for I am the Lord who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear. The key here is the presence of the Holy Spirit – it does not come automatically – you must seek it actively. Again, I say, it is not about a lot of prayer. There is no such thing. It is your desire to want, to have, to be with the Holy Spirit all of the time….go test that one out. How? Create your own ‘fast’ days. Start with once a week. Go from there. The Spirit will lead you. Not a matter of not eating or drinking water, or being quietly alone. But a matter of spending the day totally in God’s presence – of every word, every action, being in the name of Jesus, so that you are really aware that everything you say and do has God’s approval. This, folks, is the most natural high. The closeness just spins you…

Ps 23: Even though I walk through the valley of deep darkness, I will fear no evil, for thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. When we get to love, we will also talk about sadness, for in human existence there are many valleys of ‘deep sadness” but that, as I say, will come in time. We climb the ladder. If I have not mentioned it before, find the old hymn “We are climbing Jacobs Ladder” and you will know why I decided to call the book thus..it is how the real Christian life proceeds – no short cuts. Same goes for Ps 112:7 – they will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

A quick word about death here. It is not bad news. The truth is that human society worldwide has not yet learned how to live well, much less die well. We have all of this crap about makeup and style and youth and fashion and career…then when you retire, if you’re a millionaire, great. You can fulfill your idea of ‘fun.’ If not, sorry. You’re retired, and you’re waiting to die. Wrong. Work on where you are and where the kingdom is. I think my last book is going to be about death! There is no bad news. Cause and effect will take their turn in our lives, all of us. But the strength the Spirit brings does not weaken us in age. There is much to say about death, but that one is beyond earthly love even! We will get there!

Matt 10.34 is all about angels singing ‘glory to god, peace on earth, good will amongst men….’ Aint happened, as Jesus said, do not think I have come to bring peace on earth, but a sword….meaning? the effect of his coming begins an epic struggle between good and evil before the end of the age comes. And we don’t know when. Jesus did not advocate conflict. Never. Wishful thinking created the ‘in this sign, conquer…’. Human beings are not meant to be conquerors nor conquered. Our political systems have failed us, worldwide. There is no equity. No fairness. Relatives do well. Strangers do poorly. Jesus is saying that those who move towards the kingdom will be in constant conflict with the ways of this world.  

So, in the end, do not be afraid. Of anything. Nor of anyone. Have confidence in yourself, because you are worth the precious blood of Christ. Jesus did so ie gave himself for us. Why? So we could have confidence in ourselves, not in him! Use it! Practice confidence and build your courage. Know what the issue is and where you are clearly, and always seek the Lord’s clarity. When you know you are right, you do not give in, ever. You stand your ground. Then you move forward, slowly, steadily, incrementally. Turn the other cheek if you need to, but keep going. The world cannot stop you. The lord’s protection will go before you. Do not see others as enemies, but rather for what they really are – needy people. Be kind to them. If at all possible, help them to grow. But you are not responsible for them. They have to struggle with their own growth. Not your burden. Your prerogative is to enjoy being a child of the Kingdom, unafraid of the weirdness of this world, and knowing always that the God who walks beside you is the one God for there is no other. Read Psalm 103:1. It will take you through all things. Blessings in Jesus, G.