Facing The New Year With Courage

I think of "courage" for us in facing another new year. The English word "courage" comes from a French word which means "heart." The longer I reflect upon the personal challenges we face each day, the more convinced I am that we need a large supply of courage.

Notice the number of individuals who give up on themselves, their marriages or families, or their jobs, or those who walk away from friendships or difficult family situations, or those who trade and give up their honor (even God) for creature comfort.

Nowadays, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn once said, people have become soft on courage because they have lost their sense of right and wrong.  It's the narrow road or "path of least resistance."  People easily become possessed by possessions and turn away from God.  They turn to their own ways or ideas instead of turning to the God of the Bible.

Would you have courage in your personal life this coming new year 2011? Would you choose to stay on and stand firm because you are intent in doing the right thing?

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God ... your Savior" (Isaiah 43: 2, 3)