Happy Monday!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend!
Sometimes it takes courage just to get out of bed in the morning. We can become overwhelmed by the activities of the coming day and week. Mondays can be particularly challenging as we try to sift through the musts on our lists and create some order in the chaos of our minds.
Frequently, we extend grace to others. We get it. Life is tough and throws unexpected things into our busyness. So, we understand, make exceptions for, and otherwise try to support our family, friends, and colleagues in their moments of anxiety.
Unfortunately, we rarely extend that same courtesy to ourselves. Instead, we often take the bat we carry around in our back pockets and use it mercilessly to criticize and debase our thoughts and actions. I wonder if it’s easier to take the proverbial hit than to figure out what’s keeping us in that place of pain. Perhaps it’s fear that holds us back from getting relief? Maybe we’re comfortable with the familiarity. But, on the other hand, we might be reacting from some unrecognized and ineffective model we learned and never questioned.
It takes courage to reach outside the norm and begin to make sense of thoughts and behaviors we haven’t previously identified. Then it takes more courage to address cognitive and behavioral changes to our learned and patterned responses embedded in our current processes.
Ernest Hemingway had an interesting take on the correlation between courage and grace.
We recognize that grace is commonly accepted as unmerited favor. And we accept pressure as a continuous force, either physically or mentally. So, when unmerited favor withstands the test of continuous force, the results can be unexpected courage.
I have a picture in my study showing a lighthouse overcome by a raging sea. It’s a well-known photo entitled Phares Dans La Tempete – La Jument by Jean Guichard, the caption of which translates as Lighthouse in a Storm – The Mare. The picture is of an actual lighthouse in Brittany, Northwest France. The center of the shot shows a lone man standing on a ledge toward the top near the light. He appears so peaceful. Could this be calm in the midst of the storm? Or, perhaps courage as grace under pressure? I think the picture represents both because the poetry of the image encourages both introspection and a willingness to explore deeper spiritual and emotional issues.
Scripture provides us with some familiar verbal imagery of courage and grace, as well.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 (ESV)
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (AMP)
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NKJV)
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how it is necessary for you to answer each one.” Colossians 4:6 (LEB)
There would be little challenge for most of us to apply these principles to others. However, the trial comes with difficulty in extending grace to ourselves. We become intimidated. We see that for courage to grow, we need to allow the pressures to create a pathway for grace to invade our thoughts and actions. Thus, courage is grace under pressure.
This week, let’s consider how courage appears in our lives. First, let’s look at how we address ourselves with grace and how applying pressure to be consistent and forgiving helps us foster courage. Then, as we give ourselves the latitude we need to grow, we’ll model the same for others.
Enjoy your quest and transformation!
Be Well & Be Blessed!
Lucinda
Comments by lucinda