Camp Meeting Devotions - Day Twenty-Nine

 Psalm 31:24 (NASB)

²⁴  Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.

There are different kinds of strength. There is strength of a person who can work hard enduring long hours without fading. There is strength of a person in a weight room who can lift heavy amounts in various exercises. There is also an emotional strength to endure hardships and to not lose heart. 

We are commanded to be strong. That means we are commanded to be bold, mighty, forceful and obstinate. Do we take a bold approach to life? More specifically, do we live with might and force beyond our own ability in following God? The opposite of living strong is to live weak. To live timidly, wimpy, to give up too easily. We are to be strong in God's might and power. Therefore, living a strong life is not trying harder. It is surrendering more. Leaning on God more. Trusting Him with strong faith. Obstinately relying on Him to overcome.  

We are also commanded to let our hearts take courage. You could substitute the phrase inner man for heart. The word take means to choose and capture. Each day we make multiple choices. Some of those choices include capturing courage instead of fear. The path of faith walking is the courageous path. In our inner man, we daily choose to capture with resolve how we live. 

Now to the word courage. To live courageously means to live steadfastly minded and fortified. Which is easier? To live cowardly or to live courageously? To fix our minds on the safe and secure path instead of the path of bold adventure?

I witnessed a young skate boarder last night trying to do a drop in move from the highest ramp in the skate park. He had mastered the move on a lower ramp. He climbed to the top and rested the edge of his back wheels on the edge of the ramp. The rest of the skateboard sat suspended with the front wheels in midair. The idea is to hold the board down with the back foot and then to step on the front of the board with the lead foot and ride it down. The young man sat petrified in fear. He tried to pump himself up. He gave himself pep talks. Repeatedly he stood frozen in fear. He could not bring himself to step that lead foot onto the front of the board and ride it down. He had an audience watching. Many encouraged him. The reward did not seem worth the risk in his mind. 

More experienced skaters gave him pointers and demonstrated the move repeatedly. They told him to get out of his head and commit his body. He could not. He did not have a steadfast mind. He entertained doubt, fear, and the risk of injury. He was not fortified in his commitment though he climbed the top of that ramp over and over again. Each time he stood with his backfoot on the board but kept his front foot firmly planted on the ramp. He could not bring himself to drop the lead foot onto the board and drop in down the ramp. 

Let us not be quick to throw stones in judgment. Do we choose cowardice instead of courage in our walks with the Lord? Do we choose fear over faith? Each of us stand on our cliffs with toes wrapped around the edge holding on for fear of falling. Our hearts pound and we get a huge lump in our throats. We hear the voice of God say, "Step out. Drop in." If our minds are not steadfast and our faith fortified in God's faithfulness, we will remain enslaved to fear and risk adverse living. 

We choose courage. We fill our minds with the truth of God and resolve to follow Him even into risky adventures. Standing on the cliff with hearts pounding, pulse quickening, and fear screaming between our ears to take the safe route, we must choose courage. The walls of fear the enemy puts before us are made of tissue paper. It is easily broken through if we choose courage. We have to listen to the counsel of others who have captured courage before us and stepped out. People like Elijah, David, Peter and Paul. Like Joseph and Mary. Like Noah and Abraham. Life Naomi and Ruth. Like Sarah and Sampson. More modern people like George Muller, John Wesely, Amy Carmichael and Jackie Pullinger. 

Steadfast courage leads to hope in God. Confident expectation that God will come through. That He will always be reliable and trustworthy. We can depend on Him. We can hope that courageous steps of faith called by God will lead to grand adventures and fresh encounters with Him. 

So as you stand on the edge of your cliff, don't look down. Hear the voice of God calling you to confidently, courageously, boldly, steadfastly, choose to rely on His strength, and fill you with courage to step out. To drop in. Then in faith, throw caution to the wind and courageously commit to step. Do it and encounter God on the other side of the drop. 

• Which do you naturally gravitate to, cowardice or courage? Explain why. 
• What is the cliff you are standing on and God is calling you to drop in from?
• Will you choose to remain gripped in fear or to step out in faith?
• Think through the worst that can happen to you if you step out? What is the best possible outcome? Is the risk worth the reward?