Why You Need Courage (3)

‘Be strong and of good courage, and do it...’ 1 Chronicles 28:20 NKJV

In 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested in Alabama for refusing to give her seat on the bus to a white man. Boycotts and bloodshed followed until the US Supreme Court ruled segregation unconstitutional. Later Rosa wrote: ‘Knowing what must be done does away with fear. When I sat down on the bus that day I’d no idea history was being made, I was only thinking about getting home. But I had to make up my mind. After many years of being a victim…not giving up my seat, and whatever I had to face afterwards, wasn’t important…I felt the Lord would give me the strength to endure whatever I had to face. It was time for someone to stand up—or in my case, sit down.’ Courage is displayed at unexpected moments; what you do in such moments can change you, and those around you. The story’s told of a spy who was sentenced to death by a general in the Persian Army. The general had a strange custom of giving condemned criminals a choice between the firing squad and ‘the big door’. When the general asked, ‘What will it be?’ the spy chose the firing squad. Turning to his aide the general said, ‘They always prefer the known to the unknown, yet, we gave them a choice.’ The aide asked, ‘What lies beyond the big door?’ The general replied, ‘Freedom.’ Then he added, ‘Few are brave enough to take that door.’ The dividing line between mediocrity and success is courage. That’s why David told his son Solomon upon ascending the throne: ‘Be strong and of good courage, and do it.’