Bring Everyone Along: Be Courageous

by Lisa Allgood, Executive Presbyter

“David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.”                                 – 1 Chronicles 28:20

At a recent Council meeting, we asked each Council member what word they wanted us to hear/apply this year as we seek, together, to do the will of the Lord on behalf of the Presbytery.

One word was “courage”. A great word.  And there are oh-so-many Scriptures about being strong and courageous – all through both the Old and New Testaments.

I once heard someone say, “yeah, well, that’s great; it’s easy to be courageous when you’ve got an archangel or God Himself telling you to be courageous!”

Exactly.  When we stride around under our own power, we frail feeble fearful humans, we would have to summon up courage from an empty place inside us.  Sure, sometimes we put our heads down and just plow ahead even when we’re afraid, because there’s something that just has to be done.

But what if we had the courage that David has when he faced Goliath?  That wasn’t the shaking bravado of a young boy with only a slingshot and some smooth stones who went out there to just do what he had to do. David wasn’t self-confident – he was God-confident.

1 Samuel 17:45-46: “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands…” 

I read something the other day that stuck with me, even though it might be a bit of a translation stretch…  in 1 Samuel, Goliath is noted specifically as being 6 cubits tall, wears 6 pieces of armor, and has a spear that weighs 600 shekels – 3 specifically-mentioned 6’s, the number representing the enemy of God (even Goliath’s armor is described as snake-like).  And it is also noted that David picks up 5 smooth stones. Why 5? If David knew the Lord was going to fight this battle, why in confidence did he not pick up a single stone?  Because the Jewish people would have known that the number 5 represents the 5 books of the Torah. Thus, the author concluded, the story is less about David fighting a giant, but about God fighting His enemy.

I’m not a great fan of pithy statements, like the one that goes “what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” Because the better question is “what would you do because you know God can’t fail – and God is with you?”

Do we believe our God is big enough to go with us as we stretch ourselves – our churches – our faith – so that our courage comes from His strength, and so we can honor Him even more?