Courage and Cowardice

 Throughout history, civilizations have esteemed courage as one of the highest manly virtues. And it’s true, part of being a man is being courageous.

In 1 Cor. 16:13, Paul exhorted the congregation, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” In Greek, that word “brave” is andrizomai (Strong’s # G407), which means “to act manly, show oneself a man, be brave.”

In the Old Testament, wherever we read the phrase “be of good courage” in our English Bibles, the Greek Septuagint uses that same word andrizomai. Be manly. Be brave.

God commanded Joshua to “be strong and of good courage” and “be strong and very courageous” (Josh. 1:6-7). And again, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9).

David’s general Joab exhorted his troops, “Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God” (2 Sam. 10:12; 1 Chron. 19:13). On his deathbed, David put it this way to his son Solomon: “I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man” (1 Kings 2:2).

So there’s no question that courage is indeed a manly virtue. A man who lacks courage hasn’t proven himself a man. He is being unmanly.

But God's Word exhorts women to be courageous, too. Remember, Paul told the whole Corinthian congregation to be brave, not just the men. Moses commanded “all Israel” (Deut. 31:1) to “be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid” (Deut. 31:6).

In the first few verses of 1 Peter 3, the apostle Peter reminded women to be modest, gentle, and submissive to their husbands. In other words, to be feminine and Godly. He concluded by calling to mind the bravery of Sarah: her “daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror” (1 Pet. 3:6).

In 2 Kings 19:21, as the Assyrian armies surrounded Jerusalem and blasphemed the Almighty, God spoke of the Assyrian king: “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind your back!” God delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians because His people trusted Him to save them.

Furthermore, the Proverbs 31 woman, the virtuous wife, is literally a “wife of valor.” In v. 10, the word translated “virtuous” is khayil (Strong’s # H2428), which Gesenius defines as “strength, power, might; valor, to show oneself strong; virtue, uprightness, integrity.”

The truth is, there can be no virtue or integrity without courage and moral strength! Virtue that disappears when the going gets tough is no virtue at all. And so, in today’s post, I’d like to examine courage as a Christian virtue. A virtue God requires of ALL His people.

Courage Is a Command

Courage is a command. Paul’s instruction to be brave like a man wasn’t a suggestion; it was God speaking through him. When God tells His people to be strong and of good courage, it’s not a suggestion; it’s a command. God repeats this command many times in His Word. His way of life requires courage.

Jesus Christ set the example, showing Himself strong and courageous on our behalf. To save us from death, He gave up His power and glory, and came to earth as a poor and lowly Man. He braved every temptation of the devil, men’s hatred and persecution, the Roman scourge ripping the flesh from His body, and finally death on the cross. As Heb. 12:2 reminds us, He, “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Yeshua/Jesus sacrificed everything for us. He endured everything for us. The love, devotion, and courage that He showed, we must reciprocate. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mat. 16:24).

For all of us who choose to follow Him, Yeshua/Jesus spelled out the trials we might face. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18). “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake” (Luke 6:22). “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake” (Mat. 5:11).

And that may not be all. We must be prepared to endure far more than hatred, social isolation, and evil speaking. “But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues” (Mat. 10:17). Yeshua went on, “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Mat. 10:21-22). There may be a day when “they will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service” (John 16:2).

We may face all these things; we may not. Many of God’s people have, and others haven’t. That’s for God to determine as He deems best. But are we prepared to do so? Do we have the courage?

Jesus instructed us, “And do not fear those who are killing the body, yet are not able to kill the soul. Yet be fearing Him, rather, Who is able to destroy the soul as well as the body in Gehenna” (Mat. 10:28; CLV).

To our forefathers as they stood on the brink of the earthly Promised Land, God said, “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ — you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you” (Deut. 7:17-18, 21).

“You shall not be afraid.” We must fear God more than man. As Peter and his fellow apostles replied when the authorities ordered them to stop preaching Christ’s gospel, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

But there’s more. In Ex. 23:2, God said, “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.” Peer pressure is no excuse, following orders is no excuse; our duty is to follow God!

Brothers and sisters, if we hold fast to God and His truth, then one day “we shall judge angels” (1 Cor. 6:3). As future judges, then, these instructions in the Book of Deuteronomy apply to us also: “You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s” (Deut. 1:17).

We MUST stand up for the truth, even if it means standing alone! We cannot waver, we cannot compromise.

What happens if we waver and compromise in the face of evil? We become useless. We cease to be the salt of the earth that God has called us to be, and become “good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Mat. 5:13). As King Solomon observed, “A righteous man who falters before the wicked is like a murky spring and a polluted well” (Prov. 25:26).

Jesus warned, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). And the Book of Revelation tells us that the cowardly “shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).

That’s how serious this is. Cowardice is the path to damnation! Eternal life requires courage.

So how far are we willing to go? If faced with mockery, ridicule, and open hostility from friends, family, or even fellow church members for obeying God’s laws, will we waver and compromise? Or will we hold fast?

If facing imprisonment, torture, or death for holding fast to Jesus Christ, for keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days, or for condemning the wickedness of this world, will we relent and try to strike a bargain? Or will we hold fast?

If staring down the barrel of a gun, or into the flames of a fiery furnace, will we still refuse to disobey our God? What if it isn’t we ourselves, but a spouse, child, parent, brother, or sister being threatened with torture and death if we don’t yield? What then?

These are hard questions.

Courage Must Come From God

Peter and the rest of Yeshua’s disciples once thought they knew the answers to these questions. “Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And so said all the disciples” (Mat. 26:34-35).

And yet, in the moment of crisis, Peter did deny Christ, and “all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Mat. 26:56). These were strong men, brave men. They had left all to follow Christ (Mat. 19:27; Mark 10:28; Luke 18:28). They just KNEW they would be willing, like many prophets of old, to die for Him if necessary. But they failed.

Why?

There are many brave men in this world, men who would willingly lay down their lives to save someone else. But as human beings, everyone has a breaking point. Under the right conditions or with enough time under pressure, EVERYONE will break. Everyone.

The disciples failed in that moment because they trusted in their own strength. They didn’t yet have God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within them (John 7:39; Acts 2:1-4). They thought they were strong enough.

They had to fail, they had to be broken down for God to use them. They had to learn to rely, not on their own strength, but on God. They had to learn, as the apostle Paul would later write, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Rom. 7:18). 

We all, in one way or another, must learn the same lesson Jesus’ original disciples did. If we haven’t learned it already, then the lesson is coming! “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). We all must learn that we aren’t good enough; we aren’t strong enough; we simply aren’t ENOUGH. We must rely on God.

The apostle Paul recounted an exchange with God, writing, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9).

In our flesh, nothing good dwells. “Every good gift and every perfect gift” comes from God (Jam. 1:17). Courage comes from God.

King David knew where his courage came from. He wrote, “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psa. 27:14). He didn’t say “strengthen yourself.” He said God “shall strengthen your heart.”

Through God, we can be bold! King Solomon wrote, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion” (Prov. 28:1). That word “bold,” or batakh in Hebrew, is Strong’s # H982. Gesenius defines it as “to confide in, to set one’s hope and confidence, to be secure, to fear nothing for oneself.” It’s most often translated as “trust.” That is, one can be bold and fear nothing for oneself because he has set his hope in God and put his trust in the Almighty.

This same word batakh, or trust, is found in 2 Kings 18:5, where we read of Hezekiah, “He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.” We find it again in Psa. 9:10: “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.” And again in Psa. 21:7: “For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.”

The righteous are bold as a lion because they have thrown themselves on the mercy of the Almighty and put their trust in Him! They trust, not in themselves, but in the power and goodness of God. More on this in a moment.

Conquering Fear

Does having courage mean one is never afraid? No. As many have pointed out, courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it. Gen. George S. Patton commented, “All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty.”

King David said to God, not that he was never afraid, but rather, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psa. 56:3). The Bible sets forth many examples of God’s servants who, despite being afraid, obeyed their Creator and carried out His mission.

Gideon was afraid to destroy his father’s idols or to fight the Midianites, but he did so anyway (Judg. 6-8). He did all that God told him to do. Barak was afraid to do battle with the Canaanites, but he did so anyway (Judg. 4). And Hebrews 11 holds up both Gideon and Barak as examples of faith (vv. 32-34).

Moses was afraid to speak to Pharaoh. How many of God’s prophets felt the same? But they did as God told them.

Nehemiah, knowing that God had put it in his heart to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, prayed for favor in the sight of his master, the king of Persia. When standing before the king, he wrote, “I became dreadfully afraid” (Neh. 2:2). Nevertheless, he made his request and God granted his prayer.

Queen Esther was afraid to petition her husband to spare the lives of her people. She was afraid to enter his presence without being called, knowing she could be executed. But she did it anyway, and God spared her and her people.

And do we think that Jesus Christ, as a human being, felt no fear before His betrayal, torture, and death? “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). He prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). I think it’s safe to say that Jesus felt fear, but that He ruled over it and pressed on with His mission.

So how does one rule over fear?

We’ve already seen that God gives us the power to do so. We’ve also seen that courage stems from trusting Him. We trust that, if we do what He tells us, He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). God gives us the strength and the courage to face what we could never face on our own.

We must have some trust as we take the first steps of our Christian walk, but that trust truly builds over time. With each test and each trial, our faith grows. Each time we face another test and choose to obey God, whatever the consequences might be, we learn that God is faithful and dependable, that He’s there to help us in each and every situation.

We learn that He really meant it when He promised, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you” (Isa. 43:2). We come to understand and “know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

Courage requires something else, too: love. Why was Yeshua willing to give up His honor, glory, and power; come to earth as a poor and lowly, flesh-and-blood human being; and endure a torturous death? Because He loved us. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends” (John 15:13).

If we want to be in His Kingdom, then we must reciprocate that love. It’s not enough to pay lip service to Him. It’s not enough to just believe in Him: “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43).

No, this is what our Savior taught: “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment” (Mat. 22:37-38). “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Mat. 10:37-39).

Again, Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Thus, if we love God above all else — with the whole heart, soul, and mind — then we’ll obey Him no matter what. Even if it costs us possessions, social standing, jobs, friends, parents, siblings, spouses, children, and our own lives.

God’s standard has never changed. He never changes (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8), but is firm and trustworthy. Why did He choose the Levites to be His priests in ancient Israel? Because they alone loved Him more than all else. On command, they drew their swords and slaughtered the worshipers of the golden calf, even their own friends and relatives (Ex. 32:26-29). Moses praised the tribe of Levi before God, saying, “Who says of his father and mother, ‘I have not seen them’; nor did he acknowledge his brothers, or know his own children; for they have observed Your word and kept Your covenant” (Deut. 33:9).

These are those who will triumph over Satan, triumph over evil, and inherit eternal life: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Rev. 12:11).

If we love our Messiah as He loves us, if we’re willing to sacrifice all for Him as He sacrificed all for us, then He has promised to reward us beyond imagination. Whatever He asks of us is only for our ultimate good.

Because the apostle Paul loved God above all else, he possessed courage to endure all manner of suffering:

24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.

25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;

26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness… (2 Cor. 11:24-27.)

And because Paul trusted God and His promises, he could, after suffering all these things, also write, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).

Profiles of Courage

The Bible is filled with other examples of courage. Men and women who loved God above all else and trusted in Him. We’ve seen a few already: Jesus Christ, Paul, Queen Esther, King David, Moses, Gideon, Barak, and Nehemiah. I want to look at a few more.

When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, he set out to do so (Gen. 22). Abraham not only loved and obeyed our Creator with his whole heart, he also trusted God’s promise to bless Isaac and his descendants (Gen. 17:19, 21; 21:12). So sure was he that God would keep His promises that, as he left his servants behind to go up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac, he told them, “We will come back to you” (Gen. 22:5).

As Heb. 11:17-19 explains, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”

We all know the story. At the last moment, God told Abraham not to sacrifice Isaac and He provided a ram for a sacrifice instead (Gen. 22:11-14). And because of Abraham’s unwavering love and obedience, God promised even greater blessings to him and his descendants (vv. 15-19).

When God brought Israel out of Egypt, the Israelites often rebelled and complained against Him and His servant Moses. But Moses did not waver, he did not compromise; he held fast to and obeyed God.

When the Israelites rebelled against entering the Promised Land, Moses, Joshua, and Caleb held firm. They refused to turn around and go back to Egypt, so “all the congregation said to stone them with stones” (Num. 14:10). Still, these three men would not waver, but held fast to their God. They refused to follow a crowd to do evil. God delivered them, and sentenced all their enemies to die in the wilderness.

When the Babylonians took Daniel and his three friends captive to Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar selected these four to receive special training as wise men and advisors. But this higher status came with a catch: they would be provided meat from the king’s palace, meat that wouldn’t be compatible with God’s laws. So these young men risked the king’s wrath and refused to eat his food, asking for vegetables only. God rewarded their obedience (Dan. 1:1-16).

Later, Nebuchadnezzar built a gold image and commanded all his subjects to bow down and worship it. They did. But some of them spotted Daniel’s three friends refusing to bow down, and reported their disobedience to the king. Enraged, Nebuchadnezzar threatened to burn them alive in a fiery furnace and gave them one last chance to bow down and worship.

And what was their response? Standing before him, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up’” (Dan. 3:16-18).

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego trusted the Almighty would deliver them. “But if not,” they still refused to disobey Him. They loved God more than their lives. And, as we all know, He did indeed deliver them (Dan. 3:19-30).

Many years later, Daniel found himself in a similar situation. The new rulers, the Persians, issued an edict against praying to any deity except the king for thirty days, on penalty of death (Dan. 6:6-9). Daniel, of course, prayed to the true God every day. Now, he could’ve easily altered his custom. He could’ve prayed in secret where no one would know. Many folks would. But he didn’t.

Daniel wasn’t ashamed of our God. He wouldn’t deny our Creator before men. And so he continued to pray three times a day in his house with his windows open toward Jerusalem, according to his custom (Dan. 6:10). He wasn’t out in public making a scene, but he wasn’t about to hide, either. He was ready, if necessary, to lay down his life for his faith. Of course, when he was cast into the lions’ den, God delivered him and caused his accusers to be put to death instead (Dan. 6:11-24).

When Ezra set out on his journey to Jerusalem, he refused to ask the Persian king for protection. As he explained, “For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, ‘The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him’” (Ezra 8:22). Instead, he looked to God for protection from the enemy: “So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer” (Ezra 8:23).

A few years later, Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem as the new governor, intending to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. As we already saw, he had been “dreadfully afraid” but still followed God’s guidance (Neh. 2:1-5). Now in Jerusalem, Nehemiah faced new challenges. The neighboring peoples did everything in their power to stop him from rebuilding the wall.

First, they mocked him and said he’d never succeed (Neh. 4:1-3). But he prayed and pressed on (vv. 4-5). Then, they plotted to attack and kill him and his builders. Ten times, they plotted to attack (vv. 7-12). But Nehemiah prayed, armed his people, told them to trust God, and kept building (vv. 9, 13-23).

Next, his enemies tried four times to lure him out for a meeting, thinking to harm him (Neh. 6:1-4). He refused. They tried to make him afraid, but, again, Nehemiah prayed to God for more strength and pressed on (vv. 5-9).

After this, an enemy spy informed Nehemiah of a plot on his life, advising him to hide in the temple for his own safety. But Nehemiah refused: 

11 And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!”

12 Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

13 For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

14 My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

As always, Nehemiah prayed to Almighty God and pressed on. His strength came from God, and no one could make him so afraid as to disobey our Creator.

Nehemiah pursued God’s way of life with all his heart and refused to compromise. He didn’t back down when threatened. He rebuked the rich and powerful and defended the poor and helpless (Neh. 5). He cracked down on Sabbath-breakers and idolaters, especially among his fellow Jewish leaders (Neh. 13). Nehemiah feared God more than man, and loved the praise of God more than the praise of men.

In the New Testament, John the Baptist rebuked King Herod and told him, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife” (Mark 6:18). Though it cost him his freedom and ultimately his life, he upheld God’s standards.

Peter and the other apostles, being ordered by the leaders of their nation to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, replied and said to their faces, “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree” (Acts 5:29-30).

The apostle Paul, despite everything he suffered, “went into the synagogue and spoke boldly” (Acts 19:8). As he explained later, while imprisoned, “We were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict” (1 Thes. 2:2).

There are many, many more examples. Many of the examples of faith in the faith chapter serve also as examples of courage:

32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:

33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.

37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—

38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. (Heb. 11:32-38.)

All these, God’s servants, loved Him more than their lives, more than everyone and everything in this world. They trusted in His promises and in the hope of eternal life. Through God’s Spirit, they possessed the courage to obey Him and do His will, no matter the cost.

Conclusion

Do we have the courage God requires of us?

Do we love Him above all else? Or is there someone or something in this world that we love more than Him, that we would choose over Him if push came to shove?

Do we trust in our own strength? Or do we trust in our heavenly Father’s wisdom, power, and goodness?

Do we trust His promises? He will deliver us out of all our trials, or carry us through them, if we simply trust and obey Him. That’s His promise! He will never leave us nor forsake us. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you” (Isa. 43:2).

Whatever we face, He is with us. Whatever we go through, He works all things “together for good to those who love” Him (Rom. 8:28).

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

It’s okay to feel afraid. It’s okay to confess our fears to God and pray for His strength. God will give us the courage to face whatever we must face. Our strength comes, not from within ourselves, but from Him.

Nevertheless, He still requires something of us. He still requires obedience. And remember, whatever He requires of us is only for our ultimate good (Deut. 10:13)! 

Are we willing to obey Him and keep His commandments no matter what anyone else might say or do to us? Are we willing to affirm and stand up for the truth no matter what? Or do we love the praise of men more than the praise of God?

Which path do we choose? The difficult path to eternal life, or the easy path to eternal destruction?

Revelation 12:11, or Revelation 21:8? The path of God’s beloved saints, who did not love their lives to the death? Or the path of the cowardly, who will burn in the lake of fire?

These are important questions to ask ourselves. Questions with which to examine ourselves and our hearts.