Courage for Living

The Cowardly Lion in the children's classic, The Wizard of Oz, wants courage.  He wants the Mythical Wizard of Oz to wave his wand and instill lion-like courage into his heart. What he doesn't know is that it's not that easy -- Never has been ... Never will be.  Actually, what the lion really wants the Wizard to do is to take away the fear.  He doesn't realize that courage is already inside of him ... if he can overcome the fear.  He learns that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather, the ability to move forward in the face of fear.

Nehemiah goes before King Artaxerxes I in order to ask him to reverse the King's previous order to stop the re-building process in Jerusalem.  King's don't like to reverse their own orders.  You have to know something about King Artaxerxes I.  He came into power when his father, Xerxes, was assasinated.  The leader of the coup attempt was murdered by his own co-horts and there was a power grab for the throne.  After Artaxerxes gets the upper hand in the political battle, he has all of his brothers executed so that there will be no pretenders to the throne. This is the man that Nehemiah is dealing with. Artaxerxes will not hesitate to kill Nehemiah if he thinks, even for one second, that Nehemiah is working against him.  Nehemiah was the cupbearer to Artaxerxes.  It was the position given to the King's most trusted servant.  That is true.   But in Nehemiah's day, Kings could trust no one, completely.  Just ask Julius Caesar (et tu, Brute?).  And the trust of a King could change in a split second.  Just ask Haman (Esther 7:10). 

These are some of the things that fuel Nehemiah's courage:

1. He prays.  He prays for two months before approaching the King.  He prays while he is talking to the King.  He prays after it is all over.  Nehemiah never stops praying.

2. He fasts.  He combines prayer with fasting.  Fasting is a spiritual discipline that paints a portrait of commitment and devotion. Nehemiah wants God to know that he is serious in his love for him.

3. He acts.  Sometimes courage means closing your eyes and taking the leap.  The leap takes faith. The courage doesn't come before the leap, but on the way down.

4. He confesses.  He confesses his sins.  That's good.  But he also confesses his fear.  That's even better. In confessing the sin he names the symptom.  In confessing his fear, he names the virus.  Fear is essential to courage.  Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the ability to move forward in the face of fear.

5. He leans on his community.  He is not alone.  He want to go to the city where his "fathers are buried."  He is standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before.  He is drawing courage from a heritage of faith that has been instilled in him by his ancestors.

The courage for living comes in many shapes and sizes because the battles are not always the same.  But the courage to fight them always comes from within.  God wants to help you fight the battles of life.  Prayer, Devotion, Action, Confession, and Community all play a part.  In the end, your faith in God allows you to move forward as HE give you the courage for the journey.
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