Thursday, July 22, 2010

COURAGE (III)

COURAGE (PART THREE)

Act with courage.

And take notice: Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the Lord will be with the good. ( 2 Chronicles 19:11 KJV)

Paul writes: "Every detail works to our advantage..So we are not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, in the inside, where God is making a new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace" (2 Corinthians 4:15-17 TM). Note the words, "we're not giving up". Any time we want to move forward, obstacles are going to get in the way. And God's word teaches us that we should expect nothing less. H.G.Wells asked , "What on earth can man do with himself if something didn't stand in his way?" Why would he make such a comment? Because adversity is our friend, even though it doesn't feel that way. Each obstacle we overcome teaches us about our strenghts and weaknesses. It shapes us, makes us wiser and more confident. The greatest people in the history were those who faced the most difficult challenges with courage and rose to the occasion.

That was certainly true of Winston Churchill. In his book American Scandal, Pat Williams writes about Churchill's last months. He says in 1964, President Eisenhower went to visit the former Prime Minister. Eisenhower sat by the bold-spirited leader's bed for a long period of time, neither speaking. After ten minutes, Churchill slowly raised his hand and painstakingly made the "V" for victory sign which he had so often flashed to the British people during the war. Eisenhower, fighting back tears, pulled his chair back, stood up, saluted him and left the room. To his aide out in the hallway, Eisenhower said, "I just said goodbye to Winston, but you never say farewell to courage."

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