Ridiculous Courage

 Have you ever seen one of those little dogs that don't have any idea that they are way smaller and weaker than they act?  I have some friends that have one and it's probably a tenth the size of the German Shepherds around him.  But Leo has courage that far out-sizes his little body and he acts as though he is ten times bigger than he really is.  It's crazy how he commands the room really.

Actually his courage isn't crazy it's ridiculous.  It's almost comical to watch.  I mean if even one of those German Shepherds were to wake up and realize how much more powerful they were than Leo, well, Leo wouldn't stand a chance.  But that isn't how it plays out.  

I think there's a lesson in here for us all.  It would be good for us to pause and think about what a healthy amount of courage could do for us.  

Consider the woman talking to Jesus in Matthew 15.  She was an 'outsider' in many ways: an outsider in terms of gender (women didn't have much standing in those days); an outsider in terms of religion (she was a Canaanite and not part of Jesus' tribe); and an outsider in terms of power (she had a sick daughter with no capacity to heal her).  

She was in a bad place.  But. . .She believed Jesus could help her.  In fact, she knew He was her only hope to help her daughter to be freed from terrible suffering.  And so she approached Jesus and asked Him, no, check that, she urged Him to help!  Jesus knew His mission was to the lost people of Israel first and foremost and He told her exactly that. But this mom was not discouraged, so she pleaded again: "Lord, help me!"  And Jesus resisted once again basically saying that it would be wrong for Him to stray from His mission.

But then a crazy thing happened. . .she stood there and said to Jesus, the Lord and Master of all things, that He was wrong, that it would be good if He helped her!  It wasn't that she was pridefully correcting Jesus, but instead she was standing there with nothing more than desperate faith and, dare we say ridiculous courage!

Jesus is moved by this extravagant display of love that caused this mom to overcome all the ways that made her an outsider; all the circumstances that had put her in this position; and what happened is exactly what she hoped for. . .her daughter was healed!

In essence, what this faith-filled mom shows us is that sometimes ridiculous courage, the kind that is so over-the-top that it is almost laughable, is exactly what is needed to see breakthrough in life.

I doubt that Leo has any sense of these things as he just naturally lives with an outsized sense of courage.  It's still ridiculous to watch as this little guy commands other dogs that look like behemoths compared to him, but the results can't be denied.

I wonder if Jesus allows us to read this story of the Canaanite mom's ridiculous courage to nudge us to do the same in our journey?  What massive circumstances are you living in that make you feel powerless and faithless?  What wounds in you feed your sense of hopelessness that things can never change?

Maybe it's Jesus' way of telling you to step up before Him so that He can see your ridiculous courage, in order for you to receive an outpouring of blessing in your life as well?

It might be the hardest thing you do.  But, it might also be the best thing you ever do.

I pray for a little bit of Leo in you today. . .

Blessings friend,

B