Brave when discouraged and Brave during Trials

What is courage?

the ability to do something that frightens you.

Strength in the face of pain or grief

Who comes to mind when you hear the word courage? What type of people do we consider courageous and how what affect if any has this had on our perception of courage.

Most of us think of military members, firefighters and law enforcement as people of courage. After all, they literally run into dangerous situations on purpose. How about our own experience of courage here recently? One that involved a resident and our staff. Was that an act of courage?

There are some really great quotes on courage-

Fear and courage are brothers. — Proverb

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear — Nelson Mandela

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the   day that says I'll try again tomorrow. — Mary Anne Radmacher

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. -Winston Churchill

Today’s text

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 NIV

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

But what experience does Paul have to make such statement?

2 Corinthians 11:23–33 NIV

23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.

2 Corinthians

Paul knew what it was like to be discouraged. Paul knew what it was like to have suffering. So when he tells us we are in a difficult season, things are hard, but we have more than enough reason to hang on, to be encouraged, he speaks from his own experiences. Paul, Job and David to name a few are examples of Brave When Discouraged.

2 Corinthians 7:5 NIV

5 For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within.

2 Corinthians 7

Galatians 4:20 NIV

20 how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

Galatians

John 15:20 NIV

20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

Psalm 34:10 NIV

10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Isaiah 26:3–4 NIV

3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 26:

1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV

11 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

1 chronicles

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Psalm 27:4 NIV

4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

Romans 8:28–31 NIV

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Isaiah 40:28–31 NIV

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isa

What is courage? Courage is facing that which you fear, but you must go about facing your fears with the right resources. Thinking you can do it on your own, or with the help of a few friends will not always work, certainly not when the trial in front of you is one like you’ve never seen. The first step in courage is calling out to the One who can give us the strength we need, the peace, the guidance.