Like all the crucial C’s, courage doesn’t necessarily come naturally. As I noted last week, it’s even hard for parents to want to develop courage in our children because it means asking our kids to struggle and sometimes even suffer along the way.
But we don’t find courage without encouragement. Someone has to help us see that it’s worthwhile to be brave, especially because much of the time it isn’t obvious.
It’s pretty natural to want to give up when things get tough. The child who takes this course mistakenly surmises that “giving up” is a viable coping mechanism. The parenting course advises the parents of these overly discouraged children to begin by not endorsing “throwing in the towel” as a solution to difficulty. Children need to know that even when they feel hopeless, we believe there are answers. If on-the-spot encouragement falters and the child remains stuck in defeat, the only way to reverse course is to begin again at the beginning, establishing connection and working back through capability and contribution. Courage can only emerge with the first three C’s intact.
But what happens when we feel like giving up? Easter offers us a perfect example of God working in just this manner to give the early disciples of Christ the courage they would need for the task of spreading the gospel around the globe.
When Jesus was arrested the night of the Last Supper, his followers scattered in fear. Even Peter, whom Jesus had forewarned, found himself denying Christ three times before the morning cock crowing. Only the women believers and the apostle John managed to stay beside Jesus through His crucifixion. After the triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday when every follower felt certain that the promised Messiah had come at last to rescue Israel, it’s hard to imagine a group more discouraged than the band who had put their trust in Jesus. How could He have been the Messiah if He died?
From this nadir of hopelessness, God produced the most amazing reversal of all. Jesus rose from death and personally appeared to those who loved Him. Not only did He re-connect with His friends, He also spent forty days advising them, making them capable for the task to come. Read the first chapters of Acts to see the frightened, denying Peter transformed into a powerful preacher, armed with a full knowledge of Scripture.
Then, as Jesus prepared to ascend into heaven, He charged the disciples with purpose. The whole world needed to know what God had done for humans. According to Matthew, Jesus’ last words to his disciples were:
“Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
God cements the establishment of the first three C’s by providing for our continuous encouragement in the fourth C – through the presence of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). Christians are called to be brave, not on their own steam, but because we have God’s Spirit standing with us through all life’s trials.
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