The Courage to Win

This is absolutely no time for us to be at ease in Zion. To win in this battle that we are destined to fight requires courage. There is no room for the fainthearted. The fainthearted will scurry out of their foxholes hunting another place to hide like cockroaches when the lights come on. To have courage does not presuppose that we never get afraid or tired from the battle. Courage is that innate will to be and to do what is required of us in the face of all of the obstacles that the enemy will put in our way – to get up and go on. Several thoughts might be helpful:

The enemy’s primary tactic. The enemy’s greatest weapon is what he can get us to do to ourselves. In the end, we are our own greatest enemy. Satan’s primary battlefields lie in our emotions and in our minds. Paul reminds us of that in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 where he said: “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Emotions are a very unreliable source of courage and determination, being an unstable foundation for Godly thinking. What we feel gets in the way of how we think. Feelings tend to cause us to cringe in the face of the next onslaught, afraid once again of the hurt and sorrow caused by the last battle – licking our wounds in advance. If the enemy can get us to think in that manner, we can never win and he has already won.

Most of us have a bit of self-pity in us that requires little to be stoked into a raging fire. Emotions out of control leave us with little emotional energy to fight on. It is in such times that we must have the courage to rise up and go again – taking issue with what we feel and standing strong with right thinking.

His second tactic: the wounds of family or friends. Our bonding with, and expectations of, those that are close to us are often so powerful that we are rarely prepared when they become offensive to us or offended by us. People who are close to us and become offended usually do so because (1.) we have done something very hurtful to them that we have not atoned for and (2.) they have fallen prey to their perceptions of our intentions, seeing an offense when none was intended.

Proverbs teaches: “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle” (Proverbs 18:19). We should always be forgive toward those who are offended toward us but our efforts at reconciliation often have to be measured based on what is going on with them. It is always important to look at the bigger picture in such times. That’s the reason in Matthew 18 Paul suggested going in pairs when attempting reconciliation and sometimes ultimately appealing to church when our attempts at reconciliation are not being received, realizing that any form of conflict ultimately affects the unity of the church.

The third tactic is to get us to take our eyes off of God. We have ample illustrations in the scripture as to what happens when we take our eyes off God in the warfare, one of the most vivid being Peter’s encounter with the sea, “And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, ‘Lord, save me’” (Matthew 14:19-30). It is quite obvious to us (and less obvious to Peter) that the source of his successful walk on the water was the Lord Jesus. Unfortunately, at a given moment he was struck with the impossibility of what he was doing and, in that moment, moved back from a spiritual mindset to the natural. “Of course he couldn’t walk on water,” so his natural mind told him and down he went! Isaiah assured: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). When we stay focused on God, our trust never wavers. When we look away, distracted by the world, circumstances, or people, our faith will waver and we suffer spiritual loss.

Warfare courage requires several things:

1. That our vision be clear and well defined. Too often our vision is framed by the faithfulness of others, definable results, or an undue anticipation of immediate accomplishment. A Godly vision will always be broader and more extensive than such things. An accomplished vision must be the kind of thing that only God can do and worthy of our taking whatever lumps that are required to see it happen.

2. That our hearts stay well-tuned to the tender whisperings of the Holy Spirit. To fail one moment in our walk with Him enables the enemy to find our point of vulnerability and seize advantage. It is therefore important that our devotional life be impeccable – one that is filled with worship, praise, and thanksgiving.

3. That we search the scriptures daily looking for encouragement, sustenance, examples of Godly courage and achievement, and edification. The scripture is our storehouse of truth, our resource for the warfare ahead, and our sword of offense, enabling us to stand against all of the treachery and malevolence of the enemy who is a deceiver and the father of lies. His favorite tactic is to seduce our spiritual minds making us believe his lies.

4. That we have a determination that outweighs our sometimes wildly fluctuating emotions and turmoil of thoughts. One must chart his course in the greatest light he can get and then refuse to vary, except when he has clear direction from the Lord to do otherwise. As Paul admonished: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

5. That we always remember whose work we are about and that our wounds are actually His. There is no more vivid reminder of this than what Jesus spoke to Paul on the road to Damascus: “Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me” (Acts 9:4)? We sometimes lose sight of whose battle it is and who people are ultimately fighting against when they attack us. The secret is to always turn unto the Lord and let Him bear our burdens.

6. That we have proper attitudes. In every relationship, even with our enemies, we must gentle, loving, compassionate toward their needs, and readily forgiving – and as wise as serpents! A former president of the United States used the following strategy: “Trust and verify!” How true that is in our relationships with others. Wrong attitudes give the enemy great windows of opportunity. It is very important that we bow in humility before God in difficult times knowing He will lift us up in the face of our adversities. Only in brokenness on our knees will we realize the humility of a Christ-like attitude when we go forth in battle.

Victory and courage must always be spoken of in the same breath. One cannot occur without the other. These are difficult times and there is no promise that they will get better. It is incumbent on us then that we rise up in courage and go on. We have the encouraging news that although the war goes on there are many battles that we will win in the process – if we have the courage it takes to be winners!

Jeff

• Jefferson H. and Norma R. Floyd, CO-directors • Jubilee International • P. O. Box 572 • Noblesville, IN 46061