The Courage of One More

In the 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge, Andrew Garfield portrays Desmond Doss, a real-life Army medic who refused to carry a weapon into World War II because of his faith. His fellow soldiers mocked him. His commanding officers tried to break him. They called him a coward.

Then came the Battle of Okinawa.

When American forces were driven back down the Hacksaw Ridge escarpment, leaving dozens of wounded men bleeding on the plateau above, Doss stayed behind. Alone, unarmed, under relentless enemy fire, he dragged wounded soldiers to the cliff's edge and lowered them to safety one by one. Each time he rescued another man, he whispered the same desperate prayer: "Lord, help me get one more."

By morning, he had saved seventy-five lives.

Here is what strikes me about that prayer. Doss never asked God for safety. He never asked for the battle to end. He simply asked for the strength to do the next faithful thing. One more. Just one more.

That is the shape of biblical courage. It is not the absence of fear. Doss was terrified. Courage is doing what the Almighty has called you to do while your hands are still shaking. Joshua heard it at the edge of the Promised Land: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

You may not face a battlefield this week. But you will face a moment that asks you to stay when everything says run. When that moment comes, pray the Doss prayer: Lord, help me get one more.