Courage as small as a mustard seed

Tonight I was enjoying a leisurely conversation on DisgraceBook when the topic turned from cherry ripes to making the decision to become a Christian.


Don't ask me how this transfiguration occurred...


Anyway, I decided to make the point that 'sacrificing the world's ways' and the persecution we face as Christians make this decision a difficult one. This was the response from one participant:

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"I like to be persecuted for my faith. It gives me a chance to take up a sword for God. I think the decision to live God's way or the world's way, while it is a big one to make, shouldn't be /harder/ [sic] to make because of what's involved. If you truly have faith in God, then courage should come with that. Otherwise you only have what I would call a "placebo relationship" with Him in the first place." (Emphasis mine)

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Now while I admire this Christian's zeal for 'taking up a sword for God', his latter point struck an unpleasant chord within me. 


Leaving beside the notion that he appears to be referring to decided Christians (as opposed to the 'contemplating non-Christians we were discussing), I felt uncomfortable with the idea that if I am not 'courageous', then I must be experiencing some transient, pseudo-relationship with God. If I acknowledge the uncertainty in life, being what it is, and the very real risk of persecution and physical danger, and if I am unsettled by these ideas, then I'm not really right with God? Can I not be a Christian if I am a realist?


I wanted to respond a little more emotively than I should have, but thanks to God, I took the time to mull over his words a little more first. And low and behold, God actually taught me something.


It's true: for many of us, our days seem so devoid of 'courage' per se, and it takes that whole little mustard of seed of faith just to make it through to the end of each day, and be able to say 'God is good'. The real risk of persecution and the sacrifices we make to live God's way can render our lives full of uncertainty which can make us very uncomfortable! But when we endure the pain, the trials, the suffering and the uncertainty and make it to the end of the day still following God, has that not taken courage of a sort? 


A courageous man may charge into battle to fight for those he loves. A courageous man speak up against opposition to defend the weak and the orphan. What does it take to cling to the Truth in the storms of life, when the world tells him he is a fool, if not a courageous man?


While I do not agree one-hundred per cent with this person's statements (perhaps 'trust' would be a better word than courage to use in his remarks), I am glad that I was able to ponder this a little harder.


When we are of brave hearts, may God give us the strength to fight the good fight. When we are thrashed about by the wind and the waves, may he give us the strength to hold firm to the Rock of our salvation.

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"The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." (Matthew 7:25)