When Courage Crawls Back Over the Edge

In Hacksaw Ridge, there is a scene that should make every believer sit up straight. Desmond Doss, a combat medic who refused to carry a weapon, stands atop the Maeda Escarpment after his entire company has been driven back by Japanese forces. The plateau is a killing field — smoke, blood, the cries of wounded men left behind.

And Doss goes back.

Not once. Not twice. Through the entire night, he low-crawls across that ridge, finds a wounded soldier, drags him to the edge, and lowers him down on a rope. Then he prays the same five words: "Lord, help me get one more." By dawn, he has saved seventy-five men.

What strikes me is that Doss's courage was not the absence of fear. He was terrified. His hands were raw, his body shaking. But his courage was rooted in something deeper than nerve — it was rooted in obedience to the God he served.

Scripture tells us, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9). That promise does not eliminate fear. It simply means we are never alone in it.

You may not face a battlefield this week. But you may face a diagnosis, a difficult conversation, a step of obedience that terrifies you. Courage is not waiting until the fear passes. Courage is whispering, "Lord, help me with one more step" — and crawling forward anyway.