Courageous Faith

“Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” – Elton Trueblood

Courageous faith is faith that does not give up because it knows the present circumstances does not represent the full or final reality. Courage is not the absence of fear, but  confidence and conviction in the face of fear.  Courage is belief beyond the obstacle of fear.

Three times Lord told Joshua in Joshua 1:1-9, “be strong and courageous” as he was about to lead the children of Israel into the “Promised Land” that God had promised Abraham and his descendants. Moses had lead the people for 40 years …. After his death, Joshua became his successor.  God had given Joshua an assignment,  assured him that he would be with him wherever he went, and promised that he would have the victory.  What a promise!

Faith and courage go together.  Living by faith requires courage because life is filled with challenges, tests, trials and hardships that can rock your world without the courage to face each storm. And storms will come.

Faith will get you through the trials.  Faith will help you stand when everything around collapses. After being stoned and left for dead, returned to the same city where he had been stoned him, then left for Lystra along with Barnabas to minister the gospel (Acts 14:19-23).

God often allows us to go through trials and hardships for His glory.  Personally, I have experienced many trials and hardships along this journey. Each time I had to have the courage to chose to stand firm in faith believing that God would come through.  Each time fear attempted to sway me. I didn’t know when my situation would change, I just pressed on in faith.

The Bible says that, “the trying of your faith works patience.” “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).  The saints in Hebrews 11 were commended for their faith.  Some of them didn’t received the promise.

These are challenging times.  As believers, we live according to our trust in God not in the world system nor the things we see taking place in the world. In these times God’s righteous ones must “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Romans 1:17, “the just shall live by faith.

No matter what tests or trials we face.  Faith gives us courage that we can overcome whatever challenges we face and rest assured that God is with us in the midst of the storm. Nothing is to hard for God.  He is all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present. We have the victory in Christ!

The key to overcoming adversity is to living by faith, which is an outward expression of our love for God. We demonstrate our faith by obeying Him.  Love never fails! “Now abide faith, hope, and love, these three. But the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:8,13 MEV)

Faith is the difference between success and failure, victory and defeat, peace and chaos, confidence and fear, courage and cowardice, life and death.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Blessings,

Dr. Francine

Note: All Scriptures are taken from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.