The Bible is filled with stories of
immense bravery: Moses leading
millions of people into the desert
with no water or food; David fighting
Goliath; Gideon; Jeremiah; Esther;
Abraham. The apostle Paul’s life is one
long saga of bravery and suffering.
And at the core of courage is humility.
Humility was the mark of each of these
heroes’ lives. There were some falters,
especially with Abraham, but courage
marked by humility was the overarching
quality that each possessed. pulled the man through the surf 150
yards to shore. Sadly, he died a few
minutes later.
Courage isn’t something conjured up
at the moment that it is needed. It is
the expression of your character at a
moment of testing. Courage is the sum
of all your virtues expressed at a single
moment in time. The person you have
b een, yo u r secret th o u g h ts, the
skeletons in your closet, and a lifetime
of training suddenly spill out. Would
you run into a burning building to save
a child with a crowd watching? What
if no one is looking? What if you are
rescuing an old man instead of a child?
What if it is your enemy? Courage witnesses to a stranger. A
lack of humility says, “I don’t want to
ask that woman if she knows Jesus. I
might look stupid.” This is an attitude
that values self more than another
person’s soul.
Near one of San Diego’s best surfing
spots, Solana Beach, a sixty-six-year-
old man was training for a triathlon.
He was just off Fletcher Cove and in a
line with several swimmers when he
exploded from the water, both legs in
the mouth of a twelve-to-seventeen-
foot great white shark. The man
emerged long enough to scream that
he was being attacked before being
dragged under again. Despite the
obvious danger, two swimmers in front
of the man turned and swam back to
him, into the growing cloud of blood
where a monstrous shark lurked, and
Courage is the expression of someone
who sees something more valuable
than herself.
Courage defends a victim by standing
up to the bully, even though he’s bigger.
C o u r a g e s ay s g r a c e a l o u d i n a
restaurant.
“Hang on. That’s not fair! I don’t really
know how to share my faith,” you might
object. Then care enough to learn. Put
down your pride and pick up a book by
Greg Stier of Dare 2 Share. He’ll teach
you how.
Countless times I have seen my
wife walk up to a stranger and say
something brief and watched while
the woman crumbles in tears. Elliette
prays beside her for a long while, and
then the woman hugs her tightly. I
used to ask Elliette, “What was that
all about?” “God just told me to go ask
that woman if I could pray with her,”
she’d answer. “I hate it when He does
that. I’m always terrified that I’ll look
stupid.” Yet she obeys and lives are
changed.
Courage isn’t a lack of fear. It’s being
terrified and obeying anyway. Here we
Solutions • 37