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Welcome to the Determined to Dance podcast with your host, Jennifer Hallmark. Today’s episode, “Perseverance: The Virtue of Courage” focuses on the ability to move past fear and why we need it to persevere.

Are you ready? The world would have us march to its chaotic beat but God invites us to dance in His will and His way. Let’s take a moment to be energized, refreshed, and motivated to face the day, one spin and twirl at a time.

Show Notes: Perseverance: Courage When You Don’t Have Strength

I googled quotes, then images when I began to study for this podcast. Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Courage isn’t having the strength to go on, it is going on when you don’t have the strength.” Wow. Fits how I’ve felt lately, to be sure. The images I found surprised me though. I was thinking of a lion or soldier. Instead, I found a tightrope walker, someone leaping a wide ravine, a goldfish leaping from his fishbowl into a lake. And only one lion pic. But it wasn’t a lion, it was a housecat with a lion’s shadow.

I needed to readjust my thinking. Instead of courage being something or someone strong or well-trained, courage is the ordinary attempting the extraordinary. All the images I saw were attempts at something way beyond the normal comfort zone.

Hmm. Comfort zone. The perfect opposite of courage. I know that fear is probably most thought of as the opposite but for me, maybe for you, the endless search for comfort holds more truth. It is more comfortable and much easier to sit alongside the wall at the dance, sipping a cup of punch, than to put yourself on the dance floor, in front of others, where you might really mess up and fail. Flop. Draw tons of unwanted attention from another error.

Do I, do you, really want to take a chance and try to tango when so much is at stake? Like our pride, our reputation, our ability to appear in public. I don’t know about y’all, but I can make the tiniest mistake in judgment, like buying a cute butterfly T-shirt and wearing it the next day. What’s wrong with that? Only a problem when you get home and notice the clear strip of tape that shouts your size that you forgot to remove when you decided to wear it. I cringe to think how many people wondered about my state of mind. I’d like to say this has only happened once but…

Courage. Going on when you don’t have the strength. When you’re embarrassed. When you’ve failed. When you’re too tired to keep trying. I don’t think you can persevere without courage. Every morning when you wake up and decide to face one more day and do the best you can, you’re displaying courage. Like Maria in the Sound of Music:

I work on most of my podcasts on Monday. The hardest day of the week to get started. Emails are screaming for answers, the house tends to be messy, the phone constantly rings, and I just want the weekend back. Is that too much to ask?

But I’m here at my computer, mustering all the courage I can, to work on the episode and my to-do list. Why? So many times, life seems like an endless Monday. What can help me let go of the weekends of life and move forward when I don’t want to?

1. Remember: Why do I do what I do? I write because I can’t not write. I clean because I don’t like clutter. I love and encourage those around me because I want to be loved in return. Doesn’t always happen but God steps in and fills me when others can’t or won’t.
2. I forget the Mondays when I failed. Flopped. Gave up. I forget the times I didn’t measure up to my own expectations. This leads me to number 3.
3. Let go. I release the anger and disappointment I hold against myself for not being perfect. I release bitterness that creeps in when others let me down. I release all my fears and worries and anxious moments to God and take the next step.

In faith. Because that’s where we find courage. We have faith in the God who tells us we’re never alone, never without help, never left behind.

I used to have nightmares often where I’d miss the school bus. Or a regular bus. Or a ride. Fear consumed me at times because what if I missed God’s perfect will for my life? What if I made one too many mistakes?

The nightmares stopped as I dug into His Word and realized that:

• He would find me. Psalm 139 says He knows me, where I am, what my thoughts are.
• He would guide me. Psalm 37 says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. I’m good, not in myself, but because Jesus lives in my heart.
• He would save me. Psalm 103 says He removes my transgressions as far as the east is from the west.

I have courage because of Him. In Him, I can do all things. Even if it’s just to sit at my desk and work on one more podcast. He’s with me, extending his hand, asking me to dance, to follow his lead, one more time.

Let’s pray: Father God, thank you for Your word and the courage I glean from its wisdom. You and Your word help me to persevere. Remind me daily that You are for me, with me, and will never leave me behind. You make a way where there is no way. Because of You, I find my courage. In Jesus’ name, amen.

I pray that your courage, wisdom, and strength increase daily as you dance with the Father. Next week, we’ll discuss the virtue of empathy.

Until then, stay determined to dance.

Links:

My website

My debut novel, Jessie’s Hope

The Sound of Music

Remember: Perseverance: Courage When You Don’t Have Strength

Video of the week:

I absolutely love music and each week I’d like to share a relevant song we can enjoy together.