I want a new meme

I’ve heard it said that courage is not a lack of fear, but is carrying on despite our fears. Many variations of this quote have been attributed to Mark Twain, Nelson Mandela, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Bruce Lee (among others). I particularly like the version attributed to John Wayne: “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

There’s a good deal of truth to this idea that it’s courageous to press on despite being afraid. A Christian might even be tempted to think that God wrote the original version of that quote. But if God made a meme of what He had to say about fear, is that what He’d write? I wondered that today as I read a verse that said, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9). Notice it doesn't say, Be courageous even though you're frightened and dismayed. No, it simply says: Don't fear!

Another verse came to mind as I considered that. "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" (Isaiah 41:10). Is God actually defining courage in these verses as the absence of fear, contrary to the definitions that our culture provides in various memes out there? Does God actually want us to have a courage that's fearless because of how big and how strong and how faithful we believe our God to be?

What these two verses (and many other Bible verses) have in common is that they literally command us to have no fear and then they change the focus from fear (or from what we're afraid of) to a focus on God. In other words, by focusing entirely on God instead of on circumstances, it's possible for fear to vanish and for us to be left standing there with Almighty God, facing the same situation that we'd previosly been so frightened of, but no longer afraid. How is that possible?

The only way it's possible is if we personally know the God of the Bible for who He really is. When Joshua was told, "for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go", Joshua was meant to remember the God who had already provided Israel with a mighty deliverance from Egypt and with faithful care in the wilderness. When we take our eyes off of what scares us and choose to truly focus on the mighty and faithful God who is with us, God expects fear to flee away. In this way, if we know God for who he really is, and keep our spiritual eyes on him in all circumstances, courage can actually be the absence of fear.

But this will all be a pipe dream if God is just a theological construct in our minds. It’s when we’re convinced that God is always with us, know Him for who he really is, and continually look to Him for help that we can adopt a new definition of courage in our lives (which is actually a very old definition):  Courage is the absence of fear when we’re focused on the mighty God who is always with us!

© 2018 by Ken Peters

Keeping God in the Picture (church bulletin cover)

There are times when personal issues come up in our lives that seem intimidatingly strong.  Impregnable.  Impossible to overcome.  They can leave us feeling like a little soldier who's standing all alone and staring way, way up at a great stone wall that's vastly higher than us, and so thick that it may as well be a mountain that we're banging on. It can be a hopeless feeling.

But look at what the Lord God did for the children of Israel: "And we took all his cities at that time... Sixty cities... All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates and bars" (Deuteronomy 3:4-5).  These were the same sort of cities that the ten spies had described when they discouraged the children of Israel from entering the Promised Land forty years earlier -- cities that were "fortified and very large" (Numbers 13:28).  It's not that the spies hadn't described those cities accurately.  It's just that their descriptions led the people to the wrong conclusions. Those cities were strong.  "Greater and mightier than yourselves" (Deut. 9:1).  Too big and strong for Israel to handle.  But if that's all we see, we're living like a people with no God.  Where is God in it all?

Deuteronomy 3:22 says, "You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you."  God completes the picture, for He is always with us.  So as we stare up at the cold stone walls of the most challenging personal issues we're facing -- whether they be fears or finances, illness or estrangement -- we must not allow ourselves to be intimidated.  "Be strong and courageous." was what God told Joshua, "for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).  There is Someone standing with us who dwarfs the granite walls that dwarf us, and He can crush them with a word from His mouth.  But God invites us to be a part of the battle, for God wants us to grow in faith as we learn to fight the fight of faith.  Just as when Israel later defeated five Amorite kings in a single battle, Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Do not be afraid or dismayed!  Be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight" (Joshua 10:25).

So like the children of Israel, we will wage these battles together, encouraged that the Lord is fighting for us!  And we will see many walls come tumbling down.

© 2010 by Ken Peters

Entering a new year God's way

The start of a new year. There's nothing magical about the date January 1, but as the launch day of a calendar year, it's an opportunity to pause at a societal marker that signifies the end of something past and the threshold of new opportunities. Some set goals as the year commences. Others make resolutions. Whatever you do, I recommend including God in the exercise as you put your stakes in the ground that mark the path of His purposes for your life.

Thinking of something past and something new took me back to the exactness of the language that God used to describe how the Israelites were to approach the threshold of their entry into a new land. They had left a hostile environment in Egypt, and were on the verge of a new life in a new place. God knew they had old habits from the influences of where they had been and would face new temptations from the people and practices of the land they would enter. How true is this of us as we exit 2008 and enter a new year? How well did we handle the influences and circumstances of 2008, and what will be the challenges of 2009? What temptations have assailed us in the past and what temptations will we face amidst the unknown challenges of a new year? It is simply a change of times instead of place -- a question of chronology rather than geography.

God's advice to us? Put your foot down. Mark this day. Take a stand. God told Moses, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'I am the Lord your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you... You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God.'" (Leviticus 18:2-4).

Could God have made Himself any more clear? His emphasis is "I... My... My... I..."! In other words, whatever is going on around you, keep your eyes on Me -- My words -- My will -- My ways! Whatever the sinful ways of your past (in Egypt), stay away from them! Whatever the temptations of the future (in Canaan), do not succumb! "You shall not do... nor are you to do..." No negotiation. No rationalization. Just "no".

For those of us who have struggles or temptations in our hearts as 2008 fades behind us, God says to make a decision this day: "No" to what has hindered me in the past; "No" to future temptations that want to pull me down. But what is the alternative to such temptations? Simply put: God. He says, "You are to perform My judgments and live in accord with them". Why? According to this particular text, because the One who told me to is God: "I am the Lord your God." If I am His child, His servant and of His people, then that is reason enough. He is the God who created me, chose me and saved me. He's the God of the universe. Who am I to defy Him? And besides, we know that because He is God, His ways are always higher, wiser and more fruitful than ours.

And as clear as God is in giving His people direction for obedient lives, He is equally clear later on about how His people can expect to get through day 1 in a new land or a new year with any semblance of success: "Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9). God goes with us and His grace works in us! Happy new year!

© 2009 by Ken Peters