Have you ever been in a circumstance that required more courage than you had? Some off you are like… “that is my whole life.” I know the feeling. Then you have to muster up courage to face the problem, or just bail…
I spend a lot of time with young adult men. One of the things they often talk about is how to approach a girl. They joke about how before Jesus, they would drink liquid courage and approach a girl in a bar. This rarely worked and if it did it was often the wrong kind of girl. That version of liquid courage also made people look better than they really were. Either way liquid courage seemed to give them greater reason to be afraid than to carry out courage. If you were born on an alter and have never heard of liquid courage… it is alcohol. It blurs vision, alters reality, giving temporary numbness to pain, and compromises perspective.
I think all of us face defining moments in our lives that require a kind of courage that is not naturally in us. We see other people face these moments and we want what they have. Then you read the Bible and you see so many people that have this courage you only wish you had. I know I do. When ever we hear or read a story like President Lincoln, Billy Graham, or David from the Bible, we put them on a super human level. I have a theory though. They are not super human. In fact they are just like all of us, with one difference. They know they need a courage bigger than their own. What if they are just more honest with themselves then us? In that vulnerable place, they didn’t dig deep to find that courage but sought God.
After Jesus died, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, 11 men whom Jesus called His disciples scattered the world to tell people about Jesus and begin what we call the Church. They were imprisoned, beaten, and killed for doing it. They knew that would most likely be their fate and the did it anyways. Almost daily, they had communion. Not in the religious sense many of us think of. They remembered Jesus in the face of fear, with this liquid courage and bread, and found a courage not of themselves. A courage found in God’s faithfulness to His promise to them. What promise? Not an easy life, or one with out pain. The promise was that He would be with them in the struggle and the sacrifice.
Mark 14:23 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people.
Today, I need courage bigger than myself and I think you might too. You can believe the lie of the culture that says to dig deep and look in the mirror. Or you can find real courage by remembering Jesus promise to be with you.
Recklessly, obsessively Following Jesus
Brandon Sereg
