Courage
by Alan Smith
At a zoo, a man watched as an attendant entered a wildcat cage through a door on the opposite side. He had nothing in his hands but a broom. Carefully closing the door, he proceeded to sweep the floor of the cage.
The onlooker observed that the worker had no weapon to ward off an attack by the beast. In fact, when he got to the corner of the cage where the wildcat was lying, he poked the animal with the broom. The wildcat hissed at him and then lay down in another corner of the enclosure.
He remarked to the attendant, "You certainly are a brave man."
"No I ain't brave," he replied as he continued to sweep.
"Well, then, that cat must be tame."
"No," came the reply, "he ain't tame."
"If you aren't brave and the wildcat isn't tame, then I can't understand why he doesn't attack you."
The man chuckled, then replied with an air of confidence, "Mister, he's old -- and he ain't got no teeth."
Some situations don't require much courage. Others, however, require a tremendous amount of courage. Take for example, Cassie Bernall, the 17-year-old student at Columbine High School who was asked this crucial question with a gun pointed at her head, "Do you believe in God?" Her response: "Yes, I believe in God." Those were the last words she would ever speak alive on earth. What an example of courage!
How we need courage in our own lives! Courage to stand for the truth regardless of the consequences. Courage to live a life where Christ comes first regardless of what others might think. Courage to confess the name of God to a world which regards us as fools.
"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD." (Psa. 31:24)
Indeed! So let's take courage and give God glory today!
Posted: 04/20/2000
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200004/20000420_courage.htmlCopyright (c) 2000, Alan Smith. Used by permission of the Online Devotional <thedsmith@aol.com>.
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