By Olubunmi Adebayo
*It is good to be upright.*
*But permit me to say this : it takes nothing but courage to sustain your uprightness in the face of the tough realities of life.*
*And this is where many people do get it wrong – they are upright, but they lack the needed courage to sustain their state of uprightness in the face of pressure of life or at the moment of stress.*
*Therefore, we should all know that to stand firmly on the positive principles of life takes nothing short of COURAGE, indeed, a great dosage of it on the part of each of us.*
*When the most powerful king on earth threatened three young Hebrew boys with the power of the fiery furnace to kill and destroy them, it took courage on the part of the boys to resist the pressure and refused to capitulate.*
*It is necessary you read the story in question in some detail here :*
*Daniel 3: [12] There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.*
*[13]Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.*
*[14] Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?*
*[15] Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?*
*[16] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.*
*[17] If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.*
*[18] But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.*
*A king with the power to kill came down heavily on three ordinary slave boys, and yet they held their own before him. This takes nothing short of courage to so act.*
*2) Again consider when Darius the king was pressured to make a law across his kingdom that nobody should call upon any God except on the king in a space of 30 days, and Daniel defied this and kept praying every day with the windows of his house open for viewing. This was a manifestation of great COURAGE to stand up to.*
*Consider the story in some details please :*
*Daniel 6: [7] All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.*
*[8] Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.*
*[9] Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.*
*[10] Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.*
*There is no doubt about it, the situation was NOT just life threatening, it was position targeting, yet Daniel held his own, and God showed up for him.*
*3) Another example is that Joseph who refused to submit to the amorous demands of the wife of his master, Portiphar. This required a great deal of COURAGE too.*
*Let it sink for all of us to hear, whosoever will fight the good fight of faith to finish, and desire to reach his goals in life, will have to draw from his reservoir of courage to remain upright.*
*Several actions of life are not executable without courage in us. In many instances, a man may not go forward if he lacks the courage needed for such.*
*May I let you know that what stood the LION out in the community of animals is its capacity of undiluted courage.*
*May I let you know that perhaps what might have been responsible for some delays in you making progress in life could be your lack of courage to press forward and push through on your principles of life.*
*This is why the word of God says :*
*2 Timothy 1: [7] “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.*
*Think about the verse below too in the light of our explanation above :*
*Proverbs 24: [10] If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.*
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©️ Olubunmi S Adebayo.
