Courage and Radical Faith

      Courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all. For now you are traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be.--- Ambrose Redman
       Not the way I typically start off, I know, but this morning I have been thinking about courage, courage in radical faith. What do I mean by radical faith? The kind of faith where you can walk through the tough times claiming victory in Jesus Christ, and you are not afraid because you know God is working it all out, the kind of faith that says "Yes I am a Christian" when facing certain death or persecution. The kind of faith where the fear you feel cannot out weigh your desire to serve God! That is courage, deciding God is more important than anything you might have to deal with as a consequence of your faith.
       And what about the rest of the quote I shared? What about 'The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all. For now you are traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be,' what does that have to do with courage in faith? I'm not sure if Ambrose Redman was a Christian, I really know nothing about him, but every time I read this quote I think of radical faith, the faith to stand up in service of our Father, and when I read that the 'cautious do not live at all' I think of those who have made the choice to not live by radical faith, because are you really living for God then?
       If you have given God your heart why should you be cautious in your faith? Why are you not sharing it, speaking it, and living it? The Bible tells us 365 times not to fear, it says in  Psalm 31:24 “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”  If God is telling us to live boldly in our faith, that He will give us strength, why aren't you? Think about the words I shared from Ambrose again, 'the cautious do not live at all,' what might you be losing if you aren't living a life by the faith you claim? Our life is found in Christ Jesus who died for our sins, but if we aren't living for Him, to reflect Him, to spread the gospel boldly are we really in Him, are we really living or have we sacrificed life for fear?
       The last part of the quote from Ambrose Redman reads, 'For now you are traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be,' take this as a challenge. Take this moment to examine your faith, is there courage in it? We are all stepping closer to our final destination each day, some of us think we know who we are and where we are going, but do you really? A year ago I thought I did, and now, after begging the Father to take my life and do what He wills in it and learning to trust in Him even if it doesn't make sense to me at the time, I realize I had no idea. God is taking me to somewhere unexpected, that wasn't part of my plan, and changing me into a woman that I did not expect to be.  I am not saying that there is anything special about me, that I deserve praise in any way, what I am saying is that you might think you know who you are going to be, who you want to be, but when you put everything in the Father's hands and trust Him, He will make you into who you are meant to be.  Is there courage in you to live by radical faith, to sacrifice your wants and desires to serve Him? Are you willing to step off the path of who you think you are to step onto the narrow road and find out who you really are? Are you ready for life abundant in this radical faith? Be blessed.

  Psalm 27:1
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 56:3-4
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”

2 Timothy 1:7
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”