Just Courage

Over Thanksgiving break, I read a few books. One of them was Just Courage by Gary Haugen. Gary Haugen is a former Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, and the founder of a nonprofit called International Justice Mission. If you haven’t heard much about the organization, I suggest you check them out. They are dedicated to things like ending slavery and human trafficking. Noble causes for sure and causes we should care about.

But enough about IJM for now. I recommend you check out the book. The big theme is the idea of living courageously. The big theme is that God has a great purpose for Christians. God is what this world needs, and He has called us to be His hands and feet. God’s big plan is to use us for the redemption of the world. We live in a world of safety and control, and perhaps God is calling us to take risks.

Here’s a thought/excerpt from the book based on a statement Mother Theresa once made. She said that she couldn’t go 30 minutes in her work without prayer. Check this thought out.

Do you and I have a work that we can imagine doing for thirty minutes without prayer?
If not, perhaps we need a new life’s work. Or perhaps we need to do an old life’s work in a new way.
I won’t need to be in prayer every thirty minutes in my work if I don’t really need God’s power to get it done, or if it’s work that God doesn’t really need done because it has nothing to do with his kingdom.

As I think about that quote, I realize there is a lot we do with very little prayer. One of my hopes for this year is that you and I would live so courageously that we would find ourselves in regular prayer that our Father would help us to walk in paths that are blessed, and that He would come through in ways that defy explanation in our lives.

May 2009 be a year of living courageously for you and I.