Pray, Then Be Courageous
Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese lieutenant, Iida, said he would deliberately crash into an American target if he couldn’t return. During the attack, an American sailor fired an automatic rifle at Iida’s plane as Iida shot at him. Iida missed but the sailor damaged Iida’s gas tank. Knowing he would never make it back, Iida indicated to a fellow pilot that he was going to do a suicide crash. The sailor, Sands, had to grab a bolt-action rifle as he had run out of bullets. As Iida tried strafing him again, Sands got off five shots. The fifth shot apparently killed Iida as his plane stopped firing and crashed in a nearby field.
Even the seemingly impossible can be done if we take risks and have the courage to do our duty (Mt 14:25-29). Rather than doing as little as possible, we simply do what the situation seems to demand of us, leaving the results to God (Dan 3:16-27). “Courage is fear that has said its prayers” (Dorothy Bernard).
Courage will often compel us to act in ways that are unconventional. Think of the courage it took for the singers to advance against an enemy army (2 Chronicles 20:14-22). When we are courageous, we don’t think about social rules or expectations. It took courage for Jesus to talk to what most people would consider to be an immoral Samaritan woman at a well – which was a place to pick up women (John 4:27). Nor does courage focus on possible pain. When we are courageous, we stand our ground. We do what is needed. It matters not if we are male or female for the Spirit who gives us courage (2 Timothy 1:7) resides in all who believe in Christ.
Unending pleasure in the next life; training for godly pleasure in this one.