Head Scratcher — Benaiah - Thursday
Today’s Verse
Deuteronomy 31:6a
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified... for the Lord your God goes with you. (NIV)
We often imagine the heroes of faith as fearless—Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and definitely David’s “Mighty Men.” If anyone ever was, surely they were! But courage isn't the absence of fear—it’s the decision to act anyway.
Today’s verse from Deuteronomy would have been one Benaiah and his fellow warriors likely knew by heart. Passed down from childhood, repeated in battle camps—maybe Benaiah even had it tattooed on his arm!
But it’s one thing to know a verse. It’s another to live it.
When the moment came—Benaiah may have felt fear surge through him—but he didn’t freeze. He fought.
Fear is natural; it keeps us alert. But if it keeps us from obeying God, it becomes a cage.
In the 2013 movie After Earth, Will Smith, playing Cypher Raige, delivers a powerful quote about fear to his son: "The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is the product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present exist and may not ever exist… Now, do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice."
Following Jesus will call you into hard, risky, unfamiliar places—not because God wants you to suffer, but because He wants you to trust Him more.
You may still feel afraid. That’s okay. God isn’t waiting for you to be fearless. Just don’t let fear have the final word, and as my friend Gordon Walls always tells me, “Do it afraid.”
REFLECTION
Name one area of your life where fear has been calling the shots. This week, take one step—just one—toward obedience. Even if you’re afraid.
