You hear the alarm bells ringing in your head.  Your teenage granddaughter is parroting a worldview she learned from the media, but it clashes with the Bible.  What do you do?
Your spouse is exhibiting negative behavior.  Do you call him on it or pretend you don’t notice?
A dear friend is bemoaning current events.  Do you avoid appearing too spiritual or do you mention a positive thought about God’s happy-ending plan?

We all want to be Courageous and Confident.  We all aspire to be Brave and Bold.

Our culture teaches us to be self-confident.  We can do anything we set our mind to, we are told.   We can reach down inside ourselves for strength.  But contrary to popular belief, we can’t find all we need within ourselves.  We have limited human resources.  We have only so much strength. If we insist on arrogant self-help or human help, we are headed for defeat.  God values our humility.  He comes to our aid as soon as we admit we need his help.  He comes close when we invite his intervention.  He shows us his care and power when we throw ourselves on him.  Scripture teaches us to be God-confident.  We can do anything God calls us to do because he gives us his strength.  We can be courageous because God is helping us do what he asks of us.  We can trust in his faithful promises to enable us.
Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work . . . is finished correctly.”  1 Chronicles 28:20
“Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!”  2 Chronicles 32:7
“When you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  2 Chronicles 18:8-9

Insisting on our own way is the formula for a downward spiral.  Embracing obedience is the way of increasing blessing.  We gain courage each small step of doing the next right thing.  God enables us to grow into better versions of ourselves as we do what he asks.  He won’t assist us when we’re going against his will.
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.”  Joshua 1:7
“Take courage as you fulfill your duties, and may the Lord be with those who do what is right.”  2 Chronicles 19:11

It’s human nature to doubt.  We tend to look at the negative.  Bad news sells better than good news.  We intuitively are suspicious.  Yet God asks us to believe him.  Trusting God’s promises enables us to tackle difficulty with confidence.  If we believe that God is with us and enabling us to do his will, we will move forward into hard things with confidence.
“So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.”  Acts 27:25

We all know that quiver in our stomach when we face something we’re afraid of.  We can cower in fear or we can boldly step forward in spite of it.  We can be defeated or we can push into a higher realm of boldness.
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6

How tempting it is to give up when there’s opposition from within and without!  We all have heard the voice in our heads that hisses discouragement.  “You’ll never ______.  Just forget it.  Admit you can’t ______.”  We all know the sinking feeling when our best efforts aren’t enough.  In those moments, Jesus comes especially close when we humbly cry out to him for help.  He pours his courage into us.
“Love the Lord, all you godly ones!
For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him,
but he harshly punishes the arrogant.  So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!”  Psalm 31:23-24

We can feed our courage by taking note of those who went ahead of us and led the way into boldness.  Scripture is bursting with stories of brave men and women.  Just think of the women of the Old Testament.  Nearly every one exhibited courage.  Sarah entered the household of a foreign ruler in order to protect her husband.  Rebekah left her native country forever to marry a stranger in a foreign country.  Esther risked her life to petition for the deliverance of her people.  Deborah put her life on the line to lead an army.  Jael single handedly defeated an enemy.  In the New Testament  Priscilla risked her life to help Paul and accompanied her husband to foreign cities opening her home to those who needed instruction in God’s Word.
“Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus.  In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches.  Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home. . . Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did.”  Romans 16:3-5,7
“And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear. . . For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.”  Philippians 1:13,20

Courage takes many forms. Resisting the voice of discouragement.  Speaking truth.  Attempting big, hard things.  Facing our fears.  Doing the right thing. Relying on God.  And the highest form of courage is doing the loving thing.  We have to do the hard thing for the sake of love.  After all, the Lord Jesus suffered rejection and opposition for the sake of loving others.  Finally, he suffered abuse and execution for the sake of loving his Heavenly Father and redeeming mankind.  It requires boldness for us to speak the truth lovingly at the risk of bringing rejection on ourselves.  It requires courage for us to risk our hearts to keep loving those who are difficult.  It takes confidence to call out the best in others.

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.  And do everything with love.”  1 Corinthians 16:13-14