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Courage
by Lindsey, 18, Troy, Mich.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon
This past year has been a real challenge, alot of decisions to be made, alot of choices, confusion, stress. I think like most people, I don't like uncertainty. I map things out in my head, make plans. That's what scares me about the future—the uncertainty of it.
It's been a year of growth. If I could sum up 2009 in a nutshell, I’d say it was “a year of learning to trust.” And I definitely had plenty of chances to practice that.
No matter what the future brings, I’m taken care of, because through the confusion and uncertainty, I can be certain that God is there for me. It doesn't mean nothing bad will ever happen to me. I'm sure I have a lot of struggles ahead of me in this life, but I'm even more sure of the fact that in every one of those struggles and hardships that await, God is going to take care of me.
I really like how they put it in the movie Love Comes Softly. They were comparing our walk with God to a father and his daughter, “[She] could fall down and hurt herself, even if I’m walking right there beside her. That doesn’t mean that I allowed it to happen. She knows, as far as unconditional love, I’ll pick her up and I’ll carry her. I’ll try to heal her. I’ll cry when she cries. And I’ll rejoice when she is well. In all the moments of my life, God has been right there beside me. The truth of God's love is not that he allows bad things to happen. It's His promise that He’ll be there with us when they do.”
Having faith in God’s love, gives us the courage we need to face the future. It doesn’t mean I’m never afraid, but that with God there, I have something to hold on to. I have hope.
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” ~C.S. Lewis
I love C.S. Lewis, such a genius. And, with this courage we have from our faith in God, comes a challenge—a challenge to face the unknown.
In 1986, our country suffered a great loss, when seven brave men and women were killed on the shuttle The Challenger. President Ronald Reagan gave an brilliant speech that day, adressing the bravery of the astronauts lost in flight that morning. “We’ve never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes. We mourn their loss as a nation together.
“For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, ‘Give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy.’ They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.” ~Ronald Reagan .
With God on our side, holding us up, giving us the courage we need to climb aboard our Challenger, to face the uncertainty with faith, hope and ultimate trust in God. Here’s our Challenge, here's our future, here’s our courage.