When You Know You're Licked Before You Begin

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch offers his son Jem a definition of courage that every believer should carry in their heart. After the cantankerous Mrs. Dubose dies, Atticus reveals that she had spent her final months fighting to break free from a morphine addiction — not because she would live to enjoy the victory, but because she wanted to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Atticus tells Jem, "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what."

That is the shape of biblical courage. When Joshua stood at the edge of the Promised Land, the giants on the other side did not shrink. When Esther approached the king uninvited, the law that could have killed her did not change. When Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem, the cross was not removed from His path. They all knew what waited ahead, and they began anyway.

The Almighty has never promised His people that obedience would be easy. He has promised that it would not be wasted. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is faithfulness that moves forward while fear is still speaking. Whatever God is asking you to step into this week — begin anyway. He who called you will see it through.