Courage Under Fire

Watching the attack on the Ukrainian people has been difficult for me. I have spent time in intercession for the Ukrainian people, and all innocently standing in the line of fire emotionally, economically, relationally, mentally, spiritually. The situation brought me to a spiritual truth God has been cultivating in my own life for decades – courage under fire.

We get to hide ourselves more, I think. With social media, online dating, and all the wonderful evolutions of technology the downside is that we can become cripples. Obviously not physiologically crippled but emotionally and relationally crippled. Some things in life must be tested. For example, when it comes to relationships, whether a friendship, a budding romance, marriage or even a new job it all looks satisfying and strong until it’s tested. The scriptures talk about refining often, and how we are refined. We are refined through our sufferings, afflictions, and fires.

David speaks of being purified like silver in Psalms 66:10-12 NIV

“You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver. You captured us in your net and laid the burden of slavery on our backs. Then you put a leader over us. We went through fire and flood, but you brought us to a place of great abundance.”

Courage comes with cost; it more often than not comes out of our afflictions. If there were no battles to fight, courage could not be demonstrated or tested. Let me go a step further and explain something to you that is often wrapped up and concealed in our secret and sometimes public fiery battles. The seeds that cultivate courage when accepted and faced, become stronger like our muscles when working out at the gym – more fire, more courage. The bottom line is we do not know what we have inside of us until we are put under pressure; we do not know the substance of our relationships until they are tested by crisis; we do not know how courageous we are until we choose to walk through a raging fire.

Although fire can be seen metaphorically in our personal lives as trials, it helps us to understand that there is treasure being built inside of you for each battle you’ve been courageous enough to face.

(Music Credit: Cait Fairbanks "Fight or Flight)