You didn’t run.

You didn’t fight.

You didn’t break.

You took the cup for us

And willingly

Went into the jaws of death.

Because You loved us,

You showed Courage.

I recently finished the Gospel of Mark.

And, as with all accounts of the life of Jesus, it ends with His crucifixion.

‘Courage’ has been a recurring word and idea in this season.

As a man…. who lacked courage for most of his life…

Asking the Lord to show me what courage looks like… how I can acquire it…

He showed me this:

Jesus prayed in garden. He was distressed, but he didn’t back down. He was arrested and taken before an angry mob stirred up by religious leaders that hated him. He stood before a state official who released a criminal to placate the crowds. His friends ran, abandon Him, and even denied to have been associated with Him.

He was flogged, mutilated with whips, spat on by guards, and then forced to carry the instrument of his death up a hill.

He had his hands and feet nailed into a cross, and hung from it, unable to breathe, in front of a mocking crowd…in front of his family.

And, through it all… He didn’t run, though He could have. He gave himself over willingly.

He didn’t fight, though He could have called down legions of angels from heaven.

He didn’t break. His spirit, His focus, His determination, remained steadfast.

So, when I asked God to show me what courage looks like, He said:

“This is what ‘Courage’ looks like.”

As I go through this life, I want the courage He had, even if just a portion of it. The courage to die for the sake of others and the Kingdom, but also, the courage to live…to face life’s toughest battles…that all pale in comparison to the trial of the Cross.

But, that is the Gospel: Jesus taking it ALL so that we have the power and freedom to live.

Like anything else, if there is something we want - hope, wisdom, courage - we can ask the Savior and the Father - who gives perfect gifts and makes the things we ask according to His will come to pass.

Ask for courage. And know, also, that the Lord is always with you.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

—Joshua 1:9