Obedience Gives Me Courage

Have you ever been on a mind ramble...meditating on weighty things...when a thought pierces through the maze? 

"Obedience gives me courage." 

As I half prayed over, half mulled over some specific circumstances today, this suddenly lit up like a mental neon sign. "Obedience gives me courage..." In my mind it immediately fleshed out to: 

Whenever I have chosen obedience I might start out shaking in my boots, but in the end I have found courage in the Lord's nearness...a tangible knowing that His power has come to rest upon me. 

How many times I have described the walk of faith to others... "First you must step out, then He comes in with power... in ways you didn't expect. Then you come to know Him in ways you never did before." Know, know. The type of knowing that cannot be rocked or shaken. But first, you must step.

Obedience.

Knowing truth on a page is not the same as knowing truth. This type of knowing comes from experience. Stepping out in what you know so that you'll really know. 

Fear has without a doubt been my biggest nemesis over the years. Obedience has been the cure. Obedience in pursuing Him, obedience to a change of direction toward the truth of His word or in stepping out to actually do something He's called me to do. In the face of fear, these have been my "resist the devil and he will flee" strategies. 

Logical, you might say. But to one more often paralyzed by fear than not, logic didn't have the upper hand. Truth was mostly just on the page. 

But as I did begin to pursue Him in earnest something began to change. As I started really meditating on my God and His many admonitions of "fear not for I am with you," I knew that I was at a crossroads. Would I believe Him or my fear? Would I make a stand in the truth or keep running in fear forever? There was a shift in my thinking that demanded action. Faith must bear fruit or it is not really faith. And I will never forget the night God asked me, "How will you ever look your children in the eye and tell them they can trust me if you won't trust me?" Yikes! It was go time.

Faith demands action, not merely assent. I believe must mean therefore I will do, walk in, rely on or it is not belief. Not faith in my faith, but faith in Him. Trust in truth. Stepping out because He will never leave me nor forsake me. (Hebrews 13:5) I've loved trusting that promise. 

Deuteronomy 31:8 captures it fully: The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

The Lord goes before us in the things He's calling us to, so when we choose obedience He will be there...always. It doesn't get any better than that. 

I want to choose obedience today...and in all those things mulled over. And I thank Him ahead of time for courage.

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Do you struggle with fear? How has the Lord given you courage?