Courage

When our children were younger, it was my custom to pray with them before tucking them in to bed.  One night when Sarah was very young, she prayed for courage.  When she did this, I was very surprised because I thought she was too young to know what courage meant.

As a good father, I did not want her to grow up to be a Phariseea who was long winded and used big words (Matthew 6:7).  I wanted her to “pray with understanding” (I Corinthians 14:15), so I asked her, “What is courage?”

Being the dad that I am, I knew what this word represented.  I thought it represented a concept beyond her ability to understand.  So I was ready to explain to her the difference between courage and fear.

As it turned out, it took her but a moment to reply that courage meant: “Not turning away.” 

I was dumb founded.  Not only did she understand it, but she defined it better than I would have.  If I wasn’t so proud, I would have admitted that she understood courage better than I did.  Instead, I wanted to redeem myself and started to say, “You know Sarah, I was going to tell you that courage meant not being afraid…”

However, she cut me off and didn’t let me finish my sentence.  She looked at me so knowingly and said, “Dad, you can be afraid and still have courage.  Courage just means that you face something and not run away from it.”

I should have been very upset because I’m the daddy.  I am the wise and knowledgeable one.  I’m supposed to be the one to teach, not her.

Yep, I should have been upset, except when Sarah said what she said, I pictured God in my mind.  He was nodding His head and grinning from ear to ear.  I could picture Him turning to His Heavenly Hosts, as He was saying, “Another Pharisee has been put in his place tonight.”

He was right.