God’s Will Needs Your Courage

Fear is an ever-present enemy that is constantly yammering in your ear that you will lose, you will get hurt, you will fail, and you will die if you take that step of faith. Fear is telling you to shrink back, play it safe, and stay in your comfort zone. Yet God has pre-determined victory for his people, and that includes you. So whom are you going to believe: Fear or God? The answer to that will determine whether you will achieve victory over the enemies in your life and attain the promises that God has made to you, or if you will shrink back into a life of mediocrity.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 19:13

Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.

If we are truly committed to the will of the Lord being done, then the only thing left to do is to show courage and move forward with resolution.

That was Joab’s philosophy in leading the Israelite troops against two formidable armies that had ganged up on Israel. The Arameans and the Ammonites presented a sizable danger to Israel, and they were desperate: they knew of David’s growing military dominance and they didn’t want to be yet two more of his many vassal nations. So they came to fight; they threw all they had at Israel in a do-or-die effort.

So when Joab realized their divide and conquer strategy—they would split their forces and attack Israel from the front and from the rear—he repurposed part of his troops under the capable leadership of his brother Abishai while he led the other part. He met their strategy with his own, along with this bold faith declaration calling for courageous leadership, and at the end of the day, his troops routed their enemy while securing the promise of God for a prosperous Israel.

But it wasn’t just a great strategy that won the day for Israel. That was a significant part to the victory. It wasn’t just well trained troops, previous experience and the skillful leadership of Joab and Abishai. Those were important pieces to the story as well. What won the day for God’s people was God’s will. God had willed that Israel would prosper, and because Joab was convinced of the will of God, he was able to marshal his strategic thinking, military experience and well trained troops to win the day. Since he knew in his “knower” that God’s will was to give him victory, the only thing left for the general to do at this point was to demonstrate courageous leadership and move his troops resolutely into battle.

Think about that in terms of your own life. If you are truly convinced of God’s good will for you, as you say you are, then the only thing left for you to do is to act courageously. If you resist steps of faith in response to God’s will, then you really don’t trust that God will perform his purposes. Now I am not mocking your lack of faith or belittling you because of fear. Fear and emotional paralysis are natural emotions that attack our resolve every step of the way. That is why “do not fear” and “be bold and courageous” are the number one commands given to us in scripture. Fear is an ever-present enemy that we must overcome at each step where faith is required of us.

Fear is an ever-present enemy that is constantly yammering in your ear that you will lose, you will get hurt, you will fail, and you will die if you take that step of faith. Fear is telling you to shrink back, play it safe, and stay in your comfort zone. Yet God has pre-determined victory for his people, and that includes you. So whom are you going to believe: Fear or God? The answer to that will determine whether you will achieve victory over the enemies in your life and attain the promises that God has made to you, or if you will shrink back into a life of mediocrity.

My friend, the will of God shall be accomplished. So my encouragement to you is to step out courageously and resolutely into the victory that the Lord has predetermined to give you.