Quiet Courage

Be strong and take heart.
           —Psalm 31:24

The word “courage” triggers images of the rescue of a child from a burning building, or taking a bullet for the president.

But it’s often something less dramatic. “The real tests of courage,” wrote Chuck Swindoll, “are the inner tests, like remaining faithful when nobody’s looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty …” He called it Quiet Courage.

Quiet courage is the mother who spends her years caring for an incurably afflicted child; the devoted husband who faithfully takes care of his lifetime companion as she slips into the darkness of Alzheimer’s; the widow who bravely faces her loneliness alone. And you—or someone you know.

Father, we pray today for those whose hours are spent in endless pain and those whose hours are spent in endless caring. Grant them strength and peace as with quiet courage they carry on. Amen.

There is no greater act of courage than
putting the needs of others above your own.

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