“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

               -II Timothy 1:7

This Thursday I and my family are going to see Courageous, the new Christian movie by Provident Films. Of course I can’t endorse a movie I’ve not yet seen, but the title and accompanying theme song by Casting Crowns certainly have a punch to them that’s had me thinking lately: God’s people are called to be men and women of courage, overcoming evil rather than being overcome with evil (Romans 12:21).

By courage, of course, I’m not speaking of a total absence of fear; although I think God’s people struggle with this far more often than is really acceptable, courage has been accurately defined “not [as] the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”* Put another way, even the most courageous of saints are not exempt from being afraid at times. Instead of acting on their fear, however, they act in spite of it and do what they know is right while leaving the results up to God.

“Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;”

               -Joshua 23:6

When king Nebuchadnezzar began to heat his fiery furnace in which to destroy the three Hebrew children (Daniel 3), we can be sure that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were at least a little bit uneasy at what they saw. They had determined in their hearts to follow God no matter the cost, but that didn’t mean they were thrilled with the idea of becoming martyrs. They may have been afraid to some degree, but their courage and not their fear is what controlled their actions on that day. May we all learn to follow in their footsteps, soldiers of the cross and servants of the King.

*Ambrose Redmoon