I love the Olympics, but some of the events are crazy.

I want to know who came up with that double luge thing? Have you seen it? It is the luge event where one guy is laying on top of another on a small sled and going down an icy track at, I don’t know, 150 miles per hour or something like that.

Do you think maybe a guy got his most vulnerable and needy friend and told him, Lay down on the sled and I am going to lay down on you and we are going for a ride? And when the friend objected he said, Don’t worry, it will be okay. You won’t be able to see a thing. And when the friend objected again he said, You can breathe again when it’s over. It won’t take long because we will go really fast and we will either crash or we will make it to the finish line.

And the vulnerable, needy friend said, Okay, I will go. I kind of like the idea of going down this icy track with you. And after it’s over can we go get lunch, just you and me?

Some crazy person came up with this event and now hundreds, maybe thousands of people participate in it, and millions watch it. That’s crazy!

CRAZY OR COURAGEOUS?

There is a fine line between crazy and courageous. God doesn’t call us to be crazy, but he does call us to be courageous even though courage may look a little crazy. Before the Israelites went into the promised land they were told by Moses and by God, “Be strong and courageous.” Over and over they were given this message because they were going to face some things that took courage. They were going to fight battles and fight their fears. They were going to face death, disease, and discomfort. They needed to be courageous to do what God told them to do.

Shortly before King David’s death he was handing over the reign to his son Solomon and leaving the huge task of building a temple to God. David said, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished (I Chronicles 28:20).”

I have times in my life when I need to hear these same words, “Be strong and courageous and do the work…for the Lord God, my God, is with you.” When life feels overwhelming, be strong and courageous. When marriage gets hard and raising kids feels so frustrating, we need to hear these words. When life gets hard, when tragedy strikes, we need to remember that God has promised to always be with us.

This Christian walk takes courage. It takes courage to love our enemies and care for those who don’t care for us. It takes courage to minister to people in our neighborhood, our city or even a foreign country. It takes courage to tell people about Jesus when we know they make think we are crazy. It takes courage to love like Jesus loved.

One of the greatest examples of courage we have in the Bible is Peter. Yes, Peter, the man who denied Jesus. After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter grew into a courageous proclaimer of Jesus. Shortly after Jesus had returned to heaven, Peter was taken before the Sanhedrin and told to never speak the name of Jesus again. Peter responded, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must me saved (Acts 4:12).” We are then told, “When the Sanhedrin saw the courage of Peter and John…they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Where is God calling you to be courageous?

Do you need to face an issue with addiction or a destructive habit? Do you need to reach out and get help with something? Do you need to have a hard conversation? Do you need to begin doing something that God has called you to do? Do you need to step out of your comfort zone?

What courageous thing do you need to do?

To learn more about Peter check out my Bible study Called by Christ.