Day 5 on Courage – Moving Forward with Courage
Ahab was an evil king in Israel’s history who “did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him” (1 Kings 16:30).
Elijah the prophet burst on the scene, boldly confronting him: “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve. . . .” (1 Kings 17:1).
We could understand Elijah saying with boldness: “Ahab, I don’t serve you nor your dead gods. I serve the God who is alive, the One who is the true king. His name is the LORD. He is the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God. He is the ‘I am who I am’. He is a covenant-keeping, promise-keeping God.
“Though I’m standing before you, King Ahab, I’m really standing in the presence of ‘the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God’ (1 Timothy 1:17). He is the One before whom I stand. He is the One whom I serve.”
Elijah was more conscious of being in the presence of the Almighty God, than of being in the presence of all the pomp and pageantry of Ahab’s royal palace. That took courage.
“When you’re accustomed to standing before God, kings don’t matter much. Big potentates are just small potatoes when you have been standing in the presence of the Most High” (Vance Havner).
Ahab and Jezebel might be in control of the land. Baal might be the god they worship. But Elijah was captured by a higher vision of God and a grander mission for God.
Mary Slessor, beginning her remarkable missionary career in Calabar (now part of modern Nigeria), prayed: “Lord, the task is impossible for me but not for you. Lead the way and I will follow. Why should I fear? I am on a Royal Mission. I am in the service of the King of Kings.”
You don’t have to be a prophet or a missionary to have courage. Courage is being, doing, saying all that God wants.
Courage isn’t the absence of fear. Courage is moving forward in the face of it, even when we don’t see the outcome, because we know whom we serve – our God the king.
Action Step: Lift up your eyes, see God. Expand your horizon, join God’s mission. Take courage.
~ Pastor Dave
