Pastor Glenn ’suggested’ that I read Andy Stanley’s book, Next Generation Leader. I’m finally getting around to reading it and I like it.  I’m in the 2nd of 5 sections of the book where he writes about the need for leaders to have courage. As I read what he had to say, it really made me think.

Stanley says, “Leaders are not always the first to see an opportunity. They are simply the first to seize an opportunity.”  He relates how he tells his children repeatedly: “If you don’t conquer your fear, you are going to miss out on some great things in life.” Then they talk about how, “they find that things that began with a lot of fear ended up being a lot of fun. We have been through this so many times that now they look at me and say, ‘Is this one of those things we’ll be glad we did after it’s over?’”  He goes on to say, “Courage is the willingness to move in a direction in spite of the emotions and thoughts that bid you to do otherwise. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage assumes fear.”

As I thought about courage in the face of fear, I realized that leaders are not the only people who need courage. Just recently, God impressed upon me the need to speak to a relatively new acquaintance.  This was someone I really admired and who I knew was a Christian but not a lot else.  After much prayer and wobbling back and forth, I made a phone call and set up a meeting. I wasn’t sure how my message would be received.  I need not have worried.  This person was very gracious and receptive to what God led me to speak into their life and I had the pleasure of knowing God used me to encourage someone else.

I need to remember this occasion so that the next time God asks me to doing something scary,  I will be willing to take the risk. We are all in the same boat.  We all must be willing to overcome our fears if we are to grow into the people that God wants us to be. If we don’t want to miss out on some great things in life, we have to fight through the fear that threatens to overwhelm.  If we want the thrill of knowing God is using us, we have to move forward pretending that our knees are not shaking, our stomach is not in knots–knowing that when God is for us, nothing can stand against us.