Tag: courage

Sometimes what you need…

Sometimes what you need is for someone who loves you to show up. To hold you up when all you want to do is crash.

Sometimes what you need is for someone who loves you to show up. To hold you up when all you want to do is crash. Allowing you to finish what you started, even when the “best” thing would be for you to stop.

There are few story’s that can really capture the power of love and the grit of courageous determination. The Derek Redmond story is one of them.

Many are familiar with this almost mythical tale. But for those who are not it goes like this.

Sometimes what you need is for someone who loves you to show up. To hold you up when all you want to do is crash.

Derek Redmond was an olympic sprinter from Great Britain. In 1988 his hopes of olympic glory were dashed due to an injury to his achilles tendon. For the next four year he trained for another opportunity to compete on the olympic stage. In that time he also had several surgeries due to injury.

When the 1992 Olympics came around, Derek did well enough to qualify for the olympic team. In the semi-final of the 400 meter sprint, he looked like he would do well enough to go on to the finals. But with about half of the distance left to finish, Derek’s hamstring tore, taking him to the ground.

In what can only be described as shear determination, he got up and tried to hobble his way to the finish line. With each step the pain in his leg increased. With each step his will to finish growing weaker.

Then, from out of stands, an older man is seen coming onto the track. Ignoring security, pushing them aside, the man made his way to Redmond.

That man was Derek Redmond’s father, Jim.

While fighting back tears and enduring the pain of a torn muscle Derek and his father made their way to the finish line.

All those years of training and whatever aspirations of olympic glory there may have been, they ended that day. On that track.

But a different story was written. One that inspired countless millions since that fateful day and became a living testimony to the power of love.

Sometimes what you need is for someone who loves you to show up. To hold you up when all you want to do is crash.

We all want to believe that we can do it on our own. That we can make it in this world without the help of others.

But every now and then, when the world in which we live sends us what feel like insurmountable obstacles, someone steps in and gives us the helping hand we need to finish.

The story of Derek Redmond is great, not because he finished first and won the gold.

The story of Derek Redmond is great because he endured to the end of the race. Fighting back tears, suffering through pain, and with a little help from his dad.

Lent 2018 | Day #10: Courage

Obedience is a courageous act. Every time we fight against our own tendency and do what God has commanded it is courageous.

Courage is a word that many people use, but I don’t think we fully understand. What does it mean to be courageous? What does it mean to have courage? I have wondered if this word would describe me? I would like to think so. But, I won’t presume it is true.

We often associate courage with great deeds. A fireman runs into a burning building. A police officer confronts an armed criminal. A soldier goes into a fight not knowing how many of the enemy he will find. These are just a few of the more common images we think about when we think about courage. And I will grant it does take courage to do these things. To confront our fear and to do what most people would consider crazy can be a courageous act.

What strikes me as odd is that in the Scriptures, we find obedience to God’s will described as courageous. One of the best examples is Jesus as he was waiting to be arrested. He is in prayer in the garden and he knows he has been betrayed. It will only be a matter of time before his traitor returns. He prays to God the Father and asks for the cup of wrath that awaits him at the cross to pass. But, instead of demanding this, he simply adds, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Not my will.

Obedience is a courageous act. Every time we fight against our own tendency and do what God has commanded it is courageous. Multiplying this obedience by every day is also an act of courage. I think that over the years obedience has become something that we can do or not. Something that if we get it right then we are good to go. However, this attitude does a great disservice to our witness. Every time we “slip up” we are reaffirming in the minds of those who are observing our lives, that this faith thing we claim to have does not really have a grip on us.

You see, fighting to obey when what we really want to do is give in takes courage. It is difficult and it is what God expects from us. We are not supposed to run when God commands that we love our enemies. We are not supposed to cringe in fear when God calls us to give up all our riches for those in need. We are not supposed to give up when the circumstances of our lives did not turn out the way we had hoped, dreamed, or envisioned.

Fighting through to obedience is courageous. And God is calling us to a “be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9). To not allow what is happening around us to distract us from the vow we have made to serve and obey God, our King.

The season of Lent challenges us to remain persistent until the end. Just like Jesus!

Faith is NOT Blind

One of the most difficult things in the Christian faith is learning how to bring out entire lives into conformity with God’s commands and purposes. I think the reason I struggle with this is because I cannot see into the future. If I could see how the decisions I was going to make right now were going to impact future events I would have greater confidence in what I was doing.

This may be wishful thinking. It may even be naive to think that we could have this kind of foresight. I do not have a problem with that. What I have learned is that I do not have to see into the future to have a good idea of how a present decision with impact future events.

For better or for worse, people and the circumstances that we find ourselves in do not change all that much. Sure, there are issues of language and culture but, people still have the same basic needs and desires. We all desire to be loved and accepted. We all have fears and anxieties. We all have a longing to live a life of meaning and purpose. I do not believe that people wake up every morning hoping to live a meaningless existence. This kind of hopelessness and ambiguity is something we learn because of what we choose and, to a greater degree, what we go through in life.

We cannot deny that the choices of others affect us. They may even cause us to stumble. I do not ever want to minimize this reality. What I have come to believe is that when we do not have something sure, constant, and immovable in our lives this tendency toward existential angst goes unchecked.

As a believer in Jesus, my faith provides me with a mooring to hope that, even when I fight against it, reminds me that there is someone who is calling me back from the brink. For me, hope is not just an idea. Hope is incarnated in the person of Jesus. He is my hope. He is the one who calls me back to the light when the world grows dark.

Faith in Jesus is not easy. Not because it is difficult to understand what is being asked of us. This life is difficult because we see what is being asked and we have to decide if we are genuinely willing to surrender our desires to those of God. Are we willing to trust that the steps God is calling and leading us to take are safe and sure?

In the end, there is only one way of finding out. That way is to take the first step. We have to begin to walk by faith and in faith before we will ever know. Faith is not blind. It is bold. It looks at what is in front of it and decides to proceed.

Faith is NOT blind. But it is not careless either. It must be thoughtful and measured and, most importantly, courageous.

20 Seconds Of Insane Courage

My family and I were enjoying some time together and we rented We Bought A Zoo. I have to tell you, this is not my type of movie. Not something that I would go out of my way to get, but when you have little kids you get movies that they can watch too. (Warning: Even though it is PG there is some cussing in it. So just be aware.)

The title gives away the premise of the movie and I do not want to spoil the plot because you need to get the movie and watch. But, there is a moment when the main character, Benjamin Mee, and his son, Dylan, are talking about Dylan’s crush. He has messed up and missed an opportunity to build a relationship with Lily. Benjamin’s advice was so good that I had to say something about it.

Just think about it. How long is twenty seconds? Count it off…

1
2
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4
5
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7
8
9
10
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15
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20

That really is a lot longer than you think. And there are so many ways that we could apply this. But, the one that comes to mind is that this is plenty of time to share Jesus with someone. Something can be said that can provoke the hearer to consider someone they may never have taken seriously before.

Evangelism has never been one of my strong areas. It is something that I have to consciously work at and do. I can feel my heart rate increase, my blood pressure start to rise. I get sweaty palms and the uncontrollable urge to say something stupid. None of these things are excuse enough for me to fail in doing the single more needed thing in the life of those that do not yet know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Twenty seconds. A small window to make a very big difference because you just never know. Just some thoughts from a pretty good movie.

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