The Elements of Courage

Joshua 14

What is courage?\r
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Courage is defined as the "ability to face danger or pain without showing fear." Or the "ability to manage danger" or "strength to face danger or take on challenges." \r
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When we think of courage we think of war heroes, and that's appropriate. We also think of the words of the Lord to Joshua in chapter 1: "Be strong and courageous" as they marched into Canaan. And we think of Caleb, who personifies courage.\r
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But do we ever think of courage in terms of our own lives? Almost none of us will be called up on to storm Hebron and kill giants. But are there not Hebrons in our lives, cities of situations that contain giants of circumstances? \r
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Look at the definitions again: "ability to face danger without showing fear" "ability to manage" and "strength to face." Those three elements: showing no fear, managing, and strength, are all in Caleb and available to us as we face some of life's most difficult circumstances. \r
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Put it this way - my definition: "courage is the strength to manage difficult circumstances without being overcome by fear." \r
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The Hebrew word gives us even more to consider. It's the word is Ah-Mats'. It means to "make firm", "strengthen", "secure", "persist in", or "keep alert." \r
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These too are keys to understanding courage. We learn a lot about courage from Caleb, and to begin we look back at where it all began:\r
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Numbers 13 & 14\r
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Moses wanted the spies to do several things: make an accurate assessment of the value of the land, the strength of the people, and the relative size of the cities. In doing so he made two requests: 1 - be of good courage, and 2 - bring back some produce from the land. \r
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In Numbers 13:21-24 the spies did as directed. They saw the people and cut a cluster of grapes, then returned to Moses. \r
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In verses 25 - 29 they reported back just as Moses said, but they left out one ingredient - courage. Caleb, then in verse 30 "quieted" the people (anxiety being the result of a lack of courage) and added that last ingredient. \r
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But then in verses 31 through 33 the other men added to their lack of courage outright rebellion against God by going against His promise that the land would be theirs. They presupposed a negative outcome and that attitude infected the rest of the people to the point were they all wailed and longed to return to Egypt, effectively and once again rejecting their relationship with Yahweh. \r
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Moses and Joshua attempted to bolster their faith in Numbers 14:5-9. It got so bad that the people were about to stone them until God Himself intervened. God then pointed out what was happening: the people "despised" the Lord and would not "believe" in Him. \r
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God is ready to wipe them out and start over with Moses. But in a classic scene of intervention that reminds us of Jesus' intervention on our part on the cross, Moses asks for pardon. \r
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God does pardon and does not relent on His promise, but the people who rebelled would suffer the consequences, they would be excluded from the Promised Land.\r
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So then God points out something about one of the spies: Caleb. He says in verse 24 that Caleb "has a different spirit and has followed Me fully." \r
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I like how Young's Literal Translation puts it:\r
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Numbers 14:24 and My servant Caleb, because there hath been another spirit with him, and he is fully after Me - I have brought him in unto the land whither he hath entered, and his seed doth possess it. YLT\r
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The other spies, those that fomented rebellion against the Lord, actually died of a plague right then and there, except Joshua and Caleb.\r
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A side note: later on, when it came time to divide up the land, Caleb represented the Tribe of Judah in that process with Joshua and Eleazar the High Priest. (Numbers 34:20)\r
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Ways to Defeat Courage\r
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Presuppose a negative outcome. \r
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This is what the rebellious spies did. There is a balance here between faith and presumption. Presumption is action in the absence of the promise and prodding of God. It's presumption to assume that every person will be healed of their physical ailment instantly and totally whenever we pray, if we have enough faith. God never promised that.\r
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But God did make other promises such as: "I will never leave you nor forsake you" and "he will deliver to you safely to his kingdom" and "God causes all things to work together for the good." \r
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Eyes on the enemy, not the Lord\r
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God knows we have giants we face. The key is where are your eyes? Peter started sinking when he took his eyes of Jesus and saw the wind and waves. God never promised us a life free of giants, but He promised He'd been with us all the way giving us His peace.\r
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Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. ESV\r
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Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ESV\r
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Ascribe wrong motives to the Lord\r
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Sometimes when we are in the midst of the giants we think God either doesn't care or is actually out to hurt us because He has not rescued us from the battle. God is love, and he is merciful and God does discipline and God does allow pain. Though things don't seem fair who are we to judge God's motivations? \r
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Romans 9:20-21 Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" ESV\r
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Elements of Courage\r
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Courage doesn't come from us, it is a gift\r
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That gift is the presence of God in our difficulties. Jesus said repeatedly to His disciples: "Fear not, it is I, do not be afraid."\r
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A belief in God's Word rather than the words of men or even the evidence of your own eyes. (Numbers 13:30)\r
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Caleb's eyes informed his heart via his faith (Joshua 14:7)\r
Jesus said to the synagogue ruler: "Do not fear, only believe" (Matt 5:36)\r
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A heart that follows after God "fully" (Numbers 14:24)\r
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Though the verse reads "followed me fully" in the Hebrew it just uses one word there: "full" which can also mean: to satisfy, fully have, replenish, or consecrate. In a way you could say that Caleb was full of God - that God satisfied him like nothing else, that he had set aside his life for God and was replenished with the courage he needed not by his own self, but by God filling him up. \r
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A life led by God's Spirit (Numbers 14:24)\r
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A lack of presumption, an ample supply of reliance on God's Spirit (Joshua 14:12)\r
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The more we seek and let God's Spirit guide us, the less concerned we need to be about the circumstances we find ourselves in.\r
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Patience for the right opportunity (Joshua 14:7)\r
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Caleb waited for decades before asking for Moses' promise of land. Courage also means to wait for God's timing. You've seen the movies where the rash private wants to rush into battle. The wise sergeant knows to wait for the right time to strike. Courage isn't foolhardy.\r
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An eagerness to obey God (Numbers 13:30)\r
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Caleb said "let us go up at once â?¦ for we are well able" (Numbers 13:30)\r
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A willingness to take on the hard jobs (Joshua 14:12)\r
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Courage does not always mean obvious victory\r
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2 Corinthians 4:7-12 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. ESV\r
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This is courage. Courage is the strength to manage difficult circumstances without being overcome by fear.\r
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What is cowardice?\r
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One definition: refusal to confront a reasonable degree of fear or anxiety. Running from our difficulties won't solve them. Confronting them in God's timing, with God's presence will lead to victory!\r