If we were asked “What is fear?” we may be able to immediately come up with descriptions and examples?
But if we were asked “What is courage?” we make take a while to define it and to give a personal example
A lecturer once gave an examination with just this question: What is courage?
And he gave the class 3 hours to answer that question.
Everybody began to write immediately.
After about 5 minutes a student walked up with just a piece of paper. There is only one sentence in that paper.
He handed it over to the lecturer and left the examination hall.
Everybody was surprised, but carried on writing.
When the results were out, everybody was also surprised.
It was that student who passed up that one piece of paper with only one sentence who got the highest marks.
Certainly we would want to know what he wrote and how he answered that question.
He wrote only 3 words: This is courage!
Courage is not about words. Courage is about actions.
By his actions that student showed what courage is all about.
In today’s gospel, Jesus told his disciples not to be afraid.
What is there to be afraid of? Plenty! There is the fear of going to the dentist, fear of losing the job, fear of illness, fear of failure, etc.
In fact in the first test of courage at the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples failed terribly.
They all deserted Jesus and left Him alone to face His persecutors.
Only Jesus showed courage when confronted with fear.
Why did the disciples gave in to fear? Where did fear come from? How can we overcome fear?
To begin with fear is a reaction; it is a reaction to a threat or danger. We can choose to give in to fear, or we can choose to have courage.
So if fear is a reaction, then courage is a decision. And if there is no fear, then there is no need courage.
Fear comes from the fact that we feel insecure. We feel insecure because we think that God does not care about us and the He does not come to protect us in times of trouble and danger.
And that is because there are times when we think that our prayers are not answered.
So how do we pray when we come face to face with troubles and difficulties?
We need to look at how Jesus prayed when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane.
At first He asked His heavenly Father to take that cup away, meaning to save him from suffering, pain and the cross.
After that, He prayed that God’s will be done and not His will.
Jesus trusted that when He does God’s will, then God will protect and save Him. Jesus went on to face the Cross with courage.
So when we pray, let us reflect on what we are praying.
If we are telling God what He should be doing for us, then it seems that we do not trust God to know what we need.
Hence our prayer already shows our distrust and insecurity. So even when we pray, we also have fears.
But when we pray that God’s will be done, we surrender ourselves courageously into God’s hands. Because courage is fear that had said its prayers and surrendering to God’s will.
And no matter what happens, even if the worst should happen, we know that God is watching over us and protecting us.
When we put God’s will first, then God assures us that everything will turn out for the good of those who trust God.
To trust God means to love Him. To love is a decision, and to have courage is also a decision.
But more importantly we must believe and trust that God loves us more than we can ever love him.
And we can discover what our enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten us.
The devil will deceive us by saying: You can’t withstand the storm. But Jesus will declare: Do not be afraid. I will silence the storm.
In life there are many dangerous storms. We can react with fear, or we can decide to have courage.
Because it takes courage to believe and trust in Jesus who declares to us: Do not be afraid. I have conquered the world.
Let us decide to listen to Jesus, and we will have the courage.