Live Courageous

There were 3 runners and 4 Ruckers on this cold, rainy morning.

YHC closed us out in a short devotional from a friend, Live Courageous

Live Courageous

Nehemiah 2:18

“Then I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they thoroughly supported the good work.”

The above picture is from my 13-year-old all-star team in Columbus County. It was a good summer; we were just a bunch of country boys playing video games, cropping tobacco, and cutting grass during the day. In the evening, we would beat the brakes off whatever all-star team from the city that was brave enough to show up that day. They pulled up in nice vans with nice bags, new bats, and sweet uniforms. We jumped out of the back of our dad’s pickup truck with an army bag full of 20-year-old helmets, last year’s discounted bats, and crushed whoever we played. I learned a valuable lesson about courage that year. To begin the summer, we played the local 14-year-old all-star team. Even though they were only one year older, they were legends to us. I batted second that summer and my buddy Chris Baker hit leadoff. The starting pitcher for the 14-year-old team was throwing absolute smoke in warmups and we all stood in the dugout silently wondering if we could hit it or not. Coach called me and Baker over and said, “Baker is going to get on with a single, then, I’m calling a hit and run, and Lincoln is going to smoke this guy’s best fast ball in the gap for a double, Baker will score from first, Lincoln will be on second and we are going to light these boys up.” Sure enough, Baker singled, I stepped in the box and coach called a hit and run. I smoked a first pitch fastball off the sweet spot of last year’s “Air Attack 2” bat just left of second base. But the shortstop caught it because he was covering second on the steal and doubled off Baker for a double play. Our number three hitter popped out and the inning was over. This may seem like a failure, but it wasn’t, because that result didn’t matter. We were jacked up because we now knew we could hit this guy. The courage was contagious.

That’s how courage works. Just because you step up to the plate and hack doesn’t mean the chips will fall in your favor. Being courageous doesn’t secure a desired outcome. Being courageous is living in a way that steps up to the plate regardless of the smoke you’re going to face. When the challenge arises, there are two types of people: people that fall back and people that dig in and swing away. In the scripture above, Nehemiah shares his vision with the people, and they say, “Let’s rise up and build”. In Hebrew, this verb means to “stand” or “arise” to fulfill a command. When we know what God wants us to do, we can “rise up” with courage to fulfill the command, regardless of the challenges. My journey following Jesus has been marked by one simple truth: I’m willing to do what most others are scared to do. That’s not because I’m confident in me, but I’m confident in the one who gave me the command I’m rising up to fulfill. Yeti Hunters live courageous, everybody else plays it safe. God’s Kingdom is built through people that courageously fulfill the commands God gives. Which one will you choose