Courage

I remember I was little, around the age 6, I slept with this little stuffed lion every night. I wanted him everywhere I was, but one night I realized I left him out in the car. It was around 8:00 o'clock and it was dark enough to scare me. I even turned the outside lights on, I was still afraid. Even once I got to the car, I was shivering all over. We live near lots of trees and there are trees in front of our house and in back. So I was afraid a coyote, racoon, or maybe even a mean person would come and hurt me. I remember racing to the door and feeling a rush of relief entering the door of the house.

 Do you sometimes just feel so hopeless, you don't dare to take another breath. Do you stagger and stammer before doing something? Maybe going outside when it's dark scares you. You'll never have courage for that. Maybe you don't have courage to face tomorrow, finish a test, share the gospel, face the dark, or maybe you don't have courage to confess your sins. Whatever it is, you're afraid. 

 The truth is your frightened because you feel alone.  But guess what? When you give your life to Jesus, he will conquer your fears.  So next time you face the darkness in the night, know he's there and providing light and contentment. Next time you face a test, He's by your side saying "It's gonna be just fine."

 The biggest fear Christians have is sharing the gospel with others. They are afraid if they share, they'll lose friends or look odd. That's why we need to call on Jesus for courage. He gives it to you, if you're afraid to share the gospel. You're basically saying "I prefer you go to Hell than me make a fool of myself".  Also keep this in mind, once you die, nothing is with you that you had down here, except the people that you shared with and came to know Jesus. So you might as well risk losing a friend, because you might receive them eternally. You might end up being right next to each other in Heaven, forever. All you need to face a non or anti-Christian is to have courage.

 Courage is a gift, why not receive it?

 Recently, about a year ago, I was on a bike ride with some friends. We went out when it was bright and didn't get back until dark. Really dark. We went bike riding about 5:00 o'clock and we passed a beautiful forest and parks. We often found ourselves near the road. We were near a soccer field and ended up playing soccer. We wore ourselves out. So my two friends, my sister, and I all stayed at the end of the biking line on the way home. We were so tired. It was as dark as midnight when we passed through the forest. We couldn't see a thing. We couldn't see the bikers ahead, so we ended going even slower than before. We were all a little freaked out. At this point I was wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt and it was about 60 degrees Fahrenheit outside with wind. So we were shivering and in the dark. We were a little scared, but I remembered a line from my favorite song "When you don't know what to say, just say Jesus." So at that moment I let the word Jesus roll out of my mouth a peace ran throughout my body. I could see flashlights ahead, I could see bikers ahead. I was warmed. I was full of courage. I was fine after that, I regained my energy too.