sTw's Blog

Sean, This devotional came up this morning ... it's a PHENOMINAL example of not "shrinking yourself"...

Call to Courage

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Corinthians 16:13

On December 1, 1955, an unassuming African-American woman got on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, weary after a long day's work. When a white man demanded she give up her seat to him and go to the back of the bus, she decided it was time to say, "No." Her polite refusal eventually earned Rosa Parks the title of "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement." She would later say, "I did not feel any fear sitting there. I felt the Lord would give me the strength to endure whatever I had to face. It was time for someone to stand up or, in my case, sit down. So I refused to move."

There is always a price to pay for doing the right thing in the face of opposition, but an even greater price to pay for not doing it. When Joshua was about to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land, God told him, "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid . . . for the Lord your God is with you" (1:9). God plus one faithful saint makes a majority in any situation. Whether it's crossing the Jordan River into Canaan or crossing the line of racial bigotry, God is with those who will be brave in His name.

Are you being called to be courageous? Far better to say "Yes" now than to say "I should have" later.

We must constantly build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Recommended reading: Joshua 1:1-9