A New Spine

A New Spine

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

DID YOU SEE THE MOVIE We Bought a Zoo? It’s the story of a recently widowed dad and his two kids. The father, whose career has been as an adventure writer, buys a zoo^a—a dilapidated, dysfunctional, little zoo. He gets his family and the zoo staff together and announces, “I would like to declare us all modern-day adventurers.” Later, a while into this adventure, the daughter asks him, “How come you don’t tell stories anymore?” Dad says, “Because we’re living the story.”

I think that’s what we want. We want to be swept up in an epic story that provides an adventure.

I think that’s part of what God wants for us as well. Throughout the Bible we see him calling people into his story. I wonder if God wants to get us all together and announce, “I would like to declare us all modern-day adventurers.”

Sounds good, but there’s a problem.

The problem is fear.

I Can’t Do That

Question: Where in the Bible do we see a person responding to God’s call to a task with a smile and saying, “No problem. That sounds easy”?

Answer: nowhere.

God calls Noah, telling him, “It’s not raining, there’s no threat of rain, but I want you to build an ark. And I’m going to make you responsible for restarting the whole human race.”

God calls Abraham, saying, “I want you to leave everything and go to a place. I’m not going to tell you where the place is, or what the place is, until you get there. Just go. And as a ninety-nine-year-old man, you’re going to have your first child and start a family.”

God calls Moses and says, “You’ve established a nice little life for yourself as a shepherd. But I want you to go back to Egypt, where you’re wanted for murder, and I want you to demand that the king release all the Israelite slaves.”

God calls Joshua, telling him, “I want you to lead this ragtag group of Israelites to conquer the city of Jericho.”

God calls David to face a giant; he calls Esther to confront a king; he calls the disciples of Jesus to bring the message of God to the entire world.

God never calls people to play it safe. He calls them to play it dangerous. He always calls people to something bigger and beyond themselves, something they could never do on their own.

This is why I have to laugh when I hear people say, “Christianity is a crutch for weak people.” Um, no. The problem is that true Christianity is too intimidating for most people. To be a Christian often requires us to go against the grain of popular culture. It may demand that we take a stand against fierce opposition. It asks that we give generously and live on less than we make. It tells us to defend the weak. It requires us to find ways to share with people a message that they may not want to hear. And God may ask us to do something specific that causes our hearts to grow faint. I’ve known people who felt led by God to quit high-paying jobs, to move to other countries, or to become voluntarily homeless so they could minister to the poor.

God never calls people to play it safe. He calls them to play it dangerous. The question is: Will you have the courage?

Twenty Seconds of Insane Courage

In We Bought a Zoo, the dad has a motto he lives by: “You only have to be courageous for twenty seconds.” When the moment requires him to step up and say yes, or to step up and do the right thing, he steels himself to be courageous for just twenty seconds. It’s how he met his wife. He was walking down the street, saw an attractive woman eating at a restaurant by herself, and thought, I’d love to meet her, but I couldn’t just have a conversation with a beautiful stranger. I’m not that kind of guy. Then he thought, Well, I can be that guy for twenty seconds. So he went up and talked to her. He later realizes that all the good things that have happened to him are because he got his nerve up for twenty seconds. Now he’s trying to teach it to his son. He tells the boy, “Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just, literally, twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”

That’s what we need. The nice thing is that we don’t have to muster up courage from our own resources. When God makes us new, he gives us a new spine.

Want to hear something cool? The Hebrew word ruach, which is normally translated “spirit” in the Bible, also means “courage.” So when God gives us his Spirit, he’s not only giving us his power, he’s also giving us his courage.^b And “what is the point of having God’s power if you lack the courage to actually use it?”^c

We need to be always asking, “God, what do you want me to do today?” “God, what do you want me to do in this moment?” And often, the things God wants us to do are rather ordinary, uneventful things; things that require just a quiet faithfulness and don’t force us outside our comfort zones. But there will be moments when you cannot play it safe, and you’ll need to muster up twenty seconds of insane courage to say yes to whatever it is God is calling you to do.

So let me ask: What is God calling you to do?

Maybe God is calling you to serve in a new way, to find a way of volunteering according to the unique way he’s wired you, so you can make a bigger impact with your life for him.

Or perhaps God is calling you to a new career path. You’ve known for quite a while that you’re in the wrong job, but fear has held you back from making the necessary change.

Or God could be calling you to generosity. You hold on with iron fists to your money, and God’s telling you to loosen your grip and to give generously back to him.

Or it could be that you have a secret sin. It’s a sin that you’ve been hiding for a long time, and part of its power over you is that you’re the only one who knows about it. And maybe you need to ask God to help you muster up twenty seconds of insane courage to confess that sin to a trusted friend and ask for help.

Or it could be someone else’s sin. It might be that you need to have a conversation with a friend whom you’ve been avoiding because of fear.

Or perhaps the conversation you need to have is with your spouse, because maybe things haven’t been the way they should be in your marriage, for a long time. The two of you haven’t talked about it; you’re just kind of drifting, and not in the right direction. And you need to have the courage to bring it out in the open and get help so you start moving in the right direction.

Or could it be that you need to give your life to God? You’ve never said yes to making Jesus your Savior and Lord, and you’re afraid, but you need to.

Starting right now, I would like to declare you a modern-day adventurer who can take on whatever God is calling you to do. God’s Ruach can give you a boldness to go beyond yourself. Because you can’t play it safe and please God.

Now What?

• Read Joshua 1:6-9.
• Joshua is being asked to lead God’s people into the Promised Land. How many times does God have to tell Joshua to be strong and courageous or not to be afraid? What do you feel like God is asking you to do? Why might it be easy for you to be afraid? Get quiet and listen for God’s voice. Is he telling you to be strong and courageous?
• Prayer isn’t only us talking to God; it’s a conversation, and God wants to speak to us as well. Ask God to speak to you today, showing you what he wants you to do and giving you the courage to do it.