Why We Need Courage

COURAGE IN FACING LIFE’S CHALLENGES

When I look at our world today, and as I listen to the news headlines, and listen to people actively, I feel that life is becoming difficult more difficult in certain ways more than a lot of people seem willing to admit. I’m bluntly saying that there is a sense of panic and collective anxiety, being felt, globally. Sometimes, we just pretend not to know, hear, or see what is going on, because they’re uncomfortable to think about.

Thank God, we ‘are learning to think positively. That helps. the mind at least. But we need to understand who we are, what we are doing wrong, why the panic, why we can no longer understand each other, like each other, respect each other, protect one another’s interest by standing up for what is right, just and fair in today’s society. It is in the midst of this line of thoughts and observations that I’m writing on the idea that we need courage in facing these challenges.

You Need Courage When Things Are Going in the Wrong Direction

As alluded to earlier, there is a collective feeling of anxiety, fear, discomfort, anger, frustrations, threats to our health, safety, relationships, retirement savings, government, jobs, all kinds of threats happening simultaneously globally. How can one cope? We need courage! Before, if your world is shaking, you call family members, or a pastor, support group, friends, etc., but these days, there are some restraints. Because you realize that everybody is under pressure. Everyone is struggling to make it. Many are already badly hurt on the battlefield of life, but they are hiding their pains. So there aren’t much such people can offer, because they are equally in need of courage to keep moving on.

It takes courage to face the day when parents are not sure of where their next paycheck will come from. Some are not sure where to send their children for daycare and for their safety as they go to work. There is fear, anxiety, resentments, when we are dealing with intense chaos and fears, both personally and together as a country. It calls for courage both collectively and personally. It calls for faith in God as the only unshakable foundation we have. Unfortunately, many don’t subscribe to this idea.

Why Do We Need Courage

For a faster understanding, let me share this definition of courage by Professor Daniel Putman,  

“Courage involves deliberate choice in the face of painful or fearful circumstances for the sake of a worthy goal. In Putman’s explanation, he connected the link between courage and fear.

With courage, we consider the situation, the risks involved, what is required to get the result we deserve and then summon every potential in us to face the situation with the hope that we will not be stooped, defeated, displaced, silenced by fear, instead, in the face of the threats we chose to believe in our future, in our convictions, then we act accordingly.

Today, from our personal life, family, local, state, and globally, many are afraid of the noises, threats of war, violence, threats to peace and stability, things threatening human survival just like the present pandemic and its consequences. All we see and hear requires a courageous focus, for, without it, we can’t invest, aspire, thrive, and conquer our fears. We can choose to respond not cowardly, naively, or over-confidently with any danger. Courage is not about being carefree, or nonchalant. It is about being bold with wisdom and understanding. It is about trusting your life and future by faith to a course greater than you.

It is about refusing to be stooped by discouragement, fear, doubt, and oppositions, obstacles, and limitations.  Nelson Mandela of South African President said that “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” That is so true, if you have ever faced fear and yet refused to be paralyzed by it, you will relate to that quote.https://www.lifehack.org/622240/25-confidence-quotes

When we read history, we find out that every courageous man and woman, young and old have always been courageous people who stood up against things that threaten them, their country, or one they care about. Hence, Winston Churchill said that “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

The Time We Live in Calls for Courage

It is not an exaggeration when we hear what is happening everywhere, Middle East, Africa, Nigeria, mostly, and all over, you will agree that the times in which we live call for courage. It calls for one to declare like Josua of the Old Testament, who summoned the people of Israel and declared to them the plan of God, but also call them for action to tell them to choose this day who they will follow, He said, “As for me and my family we will serve the Lord.

What’s the point, Joshua, had the courage to make a choice after calculating and realizing the dire situation facing them. Joshua made a decision to choose. In the same way, shall you and I begin to chose whether to change some of our wrong beliefs, lifestyles, our greediness, and disobedience to God’s directions? Living a courageous life demands that we make a choice of what to do, and how to live our lives if we want to survive and succeed.

That demands that we have to choose to believe what is true and avoid falsehood. We need to be courageous enough and speak up against injustices around us and around the world. Today, so many citizens of different countries are being intimidated, stripped of their freedom of speech. People are being killed and tortured without accountability by some predators in top positions. It takes courage to speak truth to power. But where there is no courage compromise and injustice flourish.

Gain Courage Through Prayer

As humans, we are limited in certain ways. But when we build our courage and hope based on the knowledge of God’s promises and love, we will be protected. We need to be plugged into the divine source. Therefore, as we choose courage over fear, let us rest our trust and confidence in God, who has the ultimate power to save, deliver, heal, provide, and restore. What that requires is that we have to communicate and connect to God daily through prayer, and have a good knowledge of his principles.

Personally speaking, my faith in God is my source of strength and courage at any time. How to Develop Courage to Handle Life’s Challenges courage in the midst of my fears. Through prayers, we will grow in confidence to face every challenge. Be it disease, relationships, financial challenges, prayers can work miracles in our situations. So today, decide to face life with determined courage based on the confidence you have in your source of life.