Take Courage!

I’m not in a boat ready to capsize and I’m not singing praises in jail or facing the terrifying glow of an angel, but I hear it. Some days it sounds like a whisper. Some days a bellowing command.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.” Mark 6:51

When my parents call with the results of my dad’s lung CAT scan—Take courage. When I need to make a decision about how to handle the neighborhood bullies—Take courage. As I roll out of bed with a biting headache—Take courage. When failures and memories of past hurts fly at me like nails from a nail gun—Take courage.

These are two of my favorite words in the Bible. Take courage!

The wind is whistling and riotous waves are pouncing up and into the boat. The disciples are straining with the oars. Jesus approaches them, walking peacefully on the water to say what? Take courage! He means for them to take it, not falter while thinking about calming down, not begrudgingly developing thicker skin or mentally debating trust levels. He says to take it. He offers it and all they have to do is take it. All we have to do is take it.

How foundational this is to remember. How motivational. What is the opposite of the command do not fear, written so many times in the Bible? I believe it’s exactly what the disciples were commanded to do on the boat upon seeing Jesus skimming the water with his barely drenched feet—Take courage.

As moms we may feel we don’t have many chances to do this but I’m willing to suggest every time we fight fear and grasp onto the Truth and trust in Jesus we are “taking courage.”

So, do you hear it? Is it a whisper or a command today? No matter the decibel or whether it comes by way of a friend, the Bible or a devotional you read, God is urging you to take courage.