I remember hearing about women who were going to serve in the middle east and I thought they were brave. I knew that was not me. Of course, a few years later our sovereign God with a beautiful sense of humor turned my heart to ministry in the middle east, confirming to me that, indeed, that was the next step for our family. I wasn’t thinking about courage; I was trusting God for the next step. 

What does it look like to live with courage? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) In other words, let the core of who you are trust so deeply in the Lord that you know you don’t need to depend on making sense of the situation. When I trust deeply in who God is and in what He says He will do, I don’t have to understand how the situation will work out. When I trust that God is a good Father who gives good and perfect gifts, who does not change and cannot change (James 1:17), then I can trust that His goodness will continue. When I believe that God is a refuge and ever-present help in time of need, then I can agree with the psalmist that no matter my circumstances, I don’t have to give into fear because God is with me (Psalm 46).  

This level of trust leads us to take actions that are courageous. One Cambridge definition of courage is “the ability to control fear and be willing to deal with something that is dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant.” When we trust God with the core of who we are, we gain the ultimate way to control fear. Fear will still try to slide its way under the door and twist around our throats until we cannot breathe. But we go back to the promises of God, the character of God, the very words of the living God who does not change. The surrendered life is a courageous life.