continuing from * Desperation is for Unbelievers ~ (yesterdays post). . . William B. Smart, Messages for a Happier Life, Inspiring Essays from the Church News (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 14-15
Fanaticism can, and often does, grow from such faith. The world has seen, and deplores, the atrocities fanaticism spawns. That’s the dark side. But no one can witness the struggle these fighters waged against such terrible odds, in hospital wards as well as the battlefield, without getting the all-important message that cuts across all religious, racial, and national lines: Courage comes from faith.
That’s how it is with believers. But we profess to be believers, too. Is our faith as strong as theirs? Avoiding fanaticism, does it make our lives as courageous?
We fight no holy war of knife and gun to test our courage. But tests come to everyone in many ways. We see them every day in our own lives and the lives of those around us.
There’s a family whose strong, loving, nurturing father is taken in death. The calm strength, the bonding, the mutual support that turn tragedy into a blessing come from courage born of faith.
There’s the other neighbor whose heart was dying within her and who, while awaiting the miracle of a suitable donor for a transplant, blessed all around her with her radiant optimism.
There’s another neighbor left desolate when her husband rejected and left her after thirty years of marriage, who emerged from the credible strengthened spiritually and in every other way.
There’s the mother driven frantic by a teenage daughter hooked on drugs and who knows what else, whose neighbors rallied around in regular sessions of fasting and prayer, and who, while the battle isn’t over, appears to be winning.
These too, are believers. Not for them desperation. Faith gives them courage. Courage makes them strong.
That’s what the Lord wants and expects. When Joshua faced his greatest test, leading Israel across the Jordan against overwhelming odds, he heard four times in one brief passage the message: Be strong and courageous.
To believers everywhere as they face their trial ring the same assurance He gave Joshua: “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee wither soever thou goest.” (Josh 1:9) ~ William B. Smart, Messages for a Happier Life, Inspiring Essays from the Church News (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 15-16
