I am the Cowardly Lion

I am the cowardly lion in search of courage.

Day in and day out, I try to convince everyone, including myself, I am not him, but it's not true. You know who I'm talking about~ the creature from L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz from the year 1939 played by Bert Lahr, who desperately wanted just one thing. . . courage!

I'm afraid . . . terrified, utterly petrified, of SO many things~ fear of failure, fear of success, fear I won't be good enough, fear I'm already not good enough, fear I am good enough, fear I'll never reach my potential, fear I'll never be able to outrun my past, fear, fear, fear.

The No. 1 fear I have? I'm scared to completely surrender to Jesus . . . all areas of my life, every decision, to protect the good deposit He has given me 2nd Timothy 1:14 every single day, every single hour, every single minute!

That's the BIGGEST fear and the biggest way I'm a COWARD on a daily basis.

'All right, I'll go in there for Dorothy. Wicked witch or no wicked witch, guards or no guards, I'll tear them apart! I may not come out alive, but I'm going in there. There's only one thing I want you fellows to do.'

'What's that?,' the Tin Man (Jack Haley) replied.

'Talk me out of it!'

Can you relate? I KNOW I can. I want to be COURAGEOUS with every single beat of my heart and every cell of my body, but there are times I'm not!

While I think the quote I just shared with you is funny, and that I can relate, the truth is, I often times don't need anyone to 'talk me out of it,' I do it myself!!

Sometimes consciously, and other times not, I do.

I want to read the Bible . . . talked out of it. I want to pray. . . talked out of it. I want to go see my family. . . talked out of it. I want to go to the nursing home. . . talked out of it. I want to give to church/to the poor/to causes. . . talked out of it. I want to write. . . talked out of it. I want to lift weights. . . talked out of it.

I want to offer an encouraging word. . . talked out of it. I want to be less selfish. . . talked out of it. I want to be more productive. . . talked out of it! I want to not care what other people think (and largely I really don't), but talked out of it.

I want to be successful. . . bam, pow, boom . . . you guessed it~ TALKED OUT OF IT!

While it's true, past failures, poor decisions and our guilt, talk us out of doing these things, it's important to know the biggest one/entity who talks us out of doing ANYTHING of God is satan.

Look at 1st Peter 5:8 'Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour!'

Satans objectives are to confuse you, divide you (sometimes against yourself and other times against others) LIE to you and kill you!!

All of those things I talk myself out of, because I'm the cowardly lion, are things that reflect the glory of God, show Jesus' love and benefit me/others~ the LAST thing the devil wants is for you to grow, is for you to be happy, to have joy, to be content, to be unselfish, to work hard (be diligent), to show love!

The reality is Ephesians 6:12, which says we are clearly, every single day of our earthly lives, in a battle. 'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.'

The GREAT news is 1st John 4:4 'My dear/little children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one (satan) who is in the world!'

and James 4:7 'Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!'

While it is TRUE Jesus, in the form of the Holy Spirit who occupies your heart, is GREATER, for this to be true, we must do what Hebrews 12:1&2 implore us to do.

'Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.'

And let us not forget 2nd Corinthians 10:5 'We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and hold every thought and make it obedient to Christ.'

I encourage all of us to live out 2nd Timothy 1:7 in our daily lives, 'For God did not give us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, love & self-discipline.'

See Almighty God is our Wizard of Oz~ He can and will give this cowardly ol' lion courage, but I must follow the yellow brick road (Matthew 7:14~'but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it') in order to reach Him!