Lessons from a Cowardly Dog
How To Get Courage
6/2/04
I. Introduction
Show “got fear?” video.
Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Black Bart did it all without firing a shot. Because he wore a hood, no victim ever saw his face. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. Instead, Black Bart later said from prison that he didn’t need to fire a shot; all he had to do was to use fear to paralyze his victims. “Fear, the face of the unknown, was my weapon of choice, my weapon of intimidation.” His sinister presence and his threat of words was enough to overwhelm the toughest stagecoach guard.
Tonight, we’re talking about “Lessons From a Cowardly Dog: How to Get Courage” and we’ll learn how to stand up to some of our fears.
Have you ever been afraid? I have. I remember when I was younger I was afraid of the dark and I would have trouble sleeping unless someone was with me. Even though my brother and I had our own rooms, my parents would make him sleep in the same bed with me because I was so scared. When I was in third grade, the book Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark was really popular, so my teacher would read some of the stories to us. Well, one particular story scared me so bad that I couldn’t sleep at all that night. I would close my eyes and images of that story would creep in my head and I’d pull the covers over my head so nobody would get me and I’d shake and tremble in fear. It was awful.
I remember going to my grandma’s house and watching TV and coming across the Discovery channel or something and there’d be snakes on the screen and my grandma would freak out. “Turn the channel, boys, I can’t stand those snakes.” She’d immediately close her eyes or get up and walk out of the room until the channel was changed. She was so scared of snakes that she couldn’t even see one on TV without it affecting her.
Well, what are you scared of? Is it rejection? When I was in high school, during my freshman and sophomore years, I hated being rejected, whether it was by a girl or a group of the “cool” people, I hated getting shot down. But by the time I was a junior, I had completely conquered that fear as I was searching for a prom date. I asked almost 50 girls to go to prom with me that year before I found a date. It was pathetic, but I wasn’t scared of rejection.
Well, what are some of your fears? I know you have some, but no matter what they are, by the end of the message tonight, you’ll learn some lessons about how to face your fears and get some courage. Well, what is courage?
II. Courage is the Thing
Courage – that quality of mind that enables people to encounter danger or difficulty firmly
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” - Mark Twain
Courage is the thing that helps us stand up and overcome fear. You see, fear is an unpleasant, often strong emotion that all of us have felt at some point in our lives. But the question is, how did we react to this fear? Did we pull the covers over our heads and hope it would go away or did we stand up to it? How you answer that question determines whether or not you had courage. Courage is the thing that everyone needs no matter what they’re doing. No matter what course you take in life, no matter what you end up doing, there’ll always be a need for courage.
III. The Case of Courage
“Courage the Cowardly Dog” chronicles the life of an incredibly timid dog that must regularly defend his owners, Eustace and Muriel, from the monsters, ghosts, and other paranormal elements that threaten their simple existence.
Courage is a small spotted dog who spends his life on pins and needles, terrified and suspicious of anything out of the ordinary. When supernatural forces rear their ugly heads, however, Courage sheds his nervous demeanor and exhibits enough fearless ingenuity to protect the ones he loves.
If Courage the Cowardly Dog can be fearless enough to protect his family, then you get some courage yourself.
So, how do you get courage?
1. Know that God is with you.
The phrase “Fear not” or “Be not afraid” is found 365 times in the Bible. I think that should make it very clear that it’s not God’s desire for us to be afraid. In fact, many of those times that he said, “Fear not,” he included “for I am with you.”
Isaiah 41:10 “10So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Imagine a young 3rd grader who’s getting picked on by an older 5th grader. The 5th grader tells him that after school they’re going to gang him and beat him to a pulp. The 3rd grader says, “Ok.” And he’s not scared, because everyday his older brother, who is in 10th grade, picks him up from school. He’s not scared because he knows who’s going to be with him when he faces the bully. And it’s the same for us, if we know who’s with us, we can surely muster up the courage it takes to overcome our fears.
1 Samuel 17:1-37 NLT 1The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2Saul countered by gathering his troops near the valley of Elah. 3So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.
4Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall! 5He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail that weighed 125 pounds. 6He also wore bronze leggings, and he slung a bronze javelin over his back. 7The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds. An armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a huge shield.
8Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, "Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! 9If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! 10I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!" 11When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.
12Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons in all. 13Jesse’s three oldest sons--Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah--had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. 14David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons. Since David’s three oldest brothers were in the army, they stayed with Saul’s forces all the time. 15But David went back and forth between working for Saul and helping his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.
16For forty days, twice a day, morning and evening, the Philistine giant strutted in front of the Israelite army.
17One day Jesse said to David, "Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. 18And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring me back a letter from them."
19David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. 20So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts. He arrived at the outskirts of the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. 21Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. 22David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. 23As he was talking with them, he saw Goliath, the champion from Gath, come out from the Philistine ranks, shouting his challenge to the army of Israel.
24As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. 25"Have you seen the giant?" the men were asking. "He comes out each day to challenge Israel. And have you heard about the huge reward the king has offered to anyone who kills him? The king will give him one of his daughters for a wife, and his whole family will be exempted from paying taxes!"
26David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to his abuse of Israel?" he asked them. "Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?" 27And David received the same reply as before: "What you have been hearing is true. That is the reward for killing the giant."
28But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. "What are you doing around here anyway?" he demanded. "What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and dishonesty. You just want to see the battle!"
29"What have I done now?" David replied. "I was only asking a question!" 30He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.
32"Don’t worry about a thing," David told Saul. "I’ll go fight this Philistine!"
33"Don’t be ridiculous!" Saul replied. "There is no way you can go against this Philistine. You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!"
34But David persisted. "I have been taking care of my father’s sheep," he said. "When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37The LORD who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!"
Saul finally consented. "All right, go ahead," he said. "And may the LORD be with you!"
When all the other Israelites were shaking in their boots, David was fearless. When no one would stand up to the giant, David came forth ready to do battle. How can he, a young boy, be so fearless? Because he knows that God is with Him. And you, too, can get some courage, if you know and rely on this fact.
2. Face Your Fear
“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” - John Wayne
“Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.” - Eddie Rickenbacker
One of the best ways to get courage is to face your fear. And once you’ve done that, you can look back at those times when you did something despite the fear that you had.
For example, do you remember the first time you jumped off of a high dive or rode a rollercoaster?
At first, you’re really excited and pumped about doing it because all of your friends tell you how awesome and fun it is. So you climb up the ladder to the top of the 10-foot diving board. Once you’re up there and realize how high you are, you start to get a little nervous. Then you creep out to the edge and peer down at the water, now you’re just plain scared. At this point, you have a couple of options. You either jump and face your fear, or you chicken out and make the descent of shame. So, you jump. And what a rush! So, you jump again and again and again. What once frightened you now invigorates you.
And it may have been the same way with a roller coaster.
And it can be the same way with other fears that you may have. Maybe it’s standing up to a bully, or asking someone to go to the movies with you and your friends. Maybe it’s trying an exotic dish at a new restaurant, or attempting a stupid stunt for the Get Real Donkey video. Maybe it’s getting on an airplane, or holding a boa constrictor. Maybe it’s speaking in front of a group of your peers or playing an instrument. Whatever that fear is, get some courage by facing it.
Paul admitted to knowing fear, but it never stopped him.
1 Corinthians 2:3 “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.” But the verb is CAME. Paul didn’t let whatever fears he had stop him from doing what he knew he was supposed to do.
“Martin Luther was among the most fearless men who ever lived. When he set out on his journey to Worms to face the questions and controversies his teaching had created, he said, ‘You can expect from me everything save fear or recantation. I shall not flee, much less recant.’ His friends warned of the dangers; some begged him not to go. But Luther would not hear of it. ‘Not go to Worms!’ he said. ‘I shall go to Worms though there were as many devils as tiles on the roofs.’
When Luther appeared there before the court of Emperor Charles V, he was shown a stack of his writings and called upon to recant. Luther replied, ‘Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear, and distinct grounds of reasoning, then I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience.’
A few days before his death, Luther recalled that day. ‘I was afraid of nothing: God can make one so desperately bold.’
Face your fears and gain some courage.
3. Depend on the Holy Spirit
One of the ways the Holy Spirit is described in the Bible is as the Comforter. He’s also the power source that will give you the boldness and courage you need to overcome fear.
Look at these two instances with the disciples.
John 20:19 AMP “19Then on that same first day of the week, when it was evening, though the disciples were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace to you!”
Acts 4:13 NLT “13The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”
These statements describe the same disciples, and the same opposition. In the first instance, they were in fear. In the second, people were amazed at their courage. What was the difference? What happened between the first and the second? The difference is the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:4 NKJV “4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
A radical transformation took place after the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit is given control of the personality he gives not “a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, and love, and a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7)
One of the things that comes with the baptism of the Holy Spirit is boldness. You’ll have more boldness to witness to people, more boldness to stand up for what is right, more boldness in general.
So, three ways to get courage, what are they?
1. Know that God is with you.
2. Face your fear.
3. Depend on the Holy Spirit.
