Courage is the quality of being willing to confront agony, danger, intimidation, or difficulty despite fear. Courage does not mean the absence of fear; instead, it is acting despite feeling afraid.

Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger and pain without fear. Moses was dead and Joshua found himself in a situation that he required courage to face. Here we have about 2.5 million Israelites standing on the side of River Jordan. They are in an emotional funk. Moses, the legendary great law-giver, the greatest man, who ever lived, is dead. There is a twinge of guilt and pain and grief realising that he died because he disobeyed God. He was not able to fulfill the promise because instead of speaking to the rock, he allowed the pressure of those who were following to determine how he led. So, he reacted and struck the rock. And we may say, “that’s cold-blooded.” Moses died, but God’s work has to continue. So, the mantle of leadership fell upon Joshua. It would require a lot of courage on the part of Joshua to step into the shoes of a great man like Moses and complete the task of taking the people into the Promised Land. Courage helps us to carry out divine assignment. Courage rests upon the clear assignment from God. You do not need courage if you do not know what you are supposed to do.

Courage is defined by mission.
Courage is the ability to do what frightens you. It is exuding strength in the face of pain or grief. It is the willingness to take risks and face challenges. It is not about being fearless, but being brave enough to act despite fear. Courage stirs you up within when problems are staring at you. After you have heard God’s voice, you need courage to do what God had spoken to you about. Courage releases the anointing of God. When we take daring steps, the energy of God will be released into making us to achieve success. You do not know what you can do or how far you can go until you begin to take courageous steps. Do not die a tenant. Don’t be scared to start building your own house. Bishop Abioye said that what it takes to build is a tipper of sand. Courage means daring the impossible and confronting your fear. Don’t run away from your fear. Those who run away from their fear are overtaken by fear. Your blessing is contained in what makes you to fear. When you take steps, good things run to catch up with you.

Courage is there in each of us and yet it remains so rare. Why? It is because we are afraid. The four lepers confronted their fears and took daring steps into the camp of Syrians (2 Kings 7:3-8).

There was famine in the land, but they decided, it is better they go to the camp of their enemies than die here. They went into camp of the Syrians and the host of Syrians ran away thinking that the armies of Israel are coming after them. The lepers went into the tent and carried away silver, gold and raiment that the Syrians left in the tent and ran away. Rise with courage and do what others are afraid to do.
• Today’s nugget: Courage is confronting your fear. Phone Contact: 07032361509. E-mail: [email protected]. Joel Ejiofor, business coach and strategist