Will You Be A Woman Of Courage?

“Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan stood up for Jeremiah and persuaded the court not to turn him over to the mob to be killed.” (Jer 26:24)

Courage is the mental or moral strength to act or speak in spite of the danger, difficulty or fear we believe to exist. Courage is an attribute we would readily ascribe to all of the prophets we have ever read about. Elijah, Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah were all called to deliver messages of impending judgment to the nations of Israel and Judah.

They were unpopular people.

1 Kings 22:8 King Ahab didn’t want to inquire of the prophet Micaiah because he never told him anything good. Prophets had a difficult task. They rarely ever delivered good news and were never politically correct. If the king didn’t like what they said, they were in danger of being killed.

With courage, they delivered the message anyway.

I have a hard time identifying with a prophet. They seem larger than life, hear directly from God, and are assured in their calling. They might all have a little bit of crazy in them.

I might have a little bit of crazy myself, but the similarities end there. I am never quite positive I hear God speak, I am not confident in my calling, and I do not consider myself courageous. At least, not prophet courageous.

Maybe that’s why I noticed Ahikam today. Just a name in the last sentence of the passage before the section break. But a man who acted with great courage. A man we can identify with.

In Jeremiah 26, the prophet is sent to speak some hard words for the people of Judah. Words of judgment and destruction unless they changed their ways. Jeremiah was, as my husband likes to say, getting in their chili a bit. He was interfering. He was telling them things they didn’t want to hear, politically unpopular things, and personally convicting things.

Mob justice would have prevailed but for a few wise old men of Judah who stepped in and said…

Wait.

Listen.

Remember.

As the mob shouted “kill him,” a few wise old men acted with courage to defend Jeremiah despite the danger of doing so.

Ahikam is the only one of the wise old men who is named. Maybe he was the one who quoted Micah’s prophecy. We don’t know anything about him except that he was recorded as being willing to stand with Jeremiah despite possible personal cost.

Being an Ahikam is terrifying. It is hard to stand up for what we know is right when everyone else around us is part of the mob. It’s hard to go against the majority. Who wants to be “that person?” I don’t want to be known as a troublemaker. I don’t want to be ostracized and unpopular. More than I don’t want those things,

I want to be a woman characterized by courage.

The question of courage is easily, but should not be, relegated to national or global issues of gay rights, civil rights, immigration, abortion and the like. There is God’s truth that we must decide whether or not we will stand up and support. But, closer to home, we grapple with this decision every day.

Will we stand up for family dinnertime if it costs us not being a part of the team? Will we stand up for priorities in our schedule and resources that put God first if it costs us not taking vacation? Will we defend our husbands in a culture that seeks to emasculate them if it costs us not being invited to dinner with the ladies? Will we stand up for our local church when the message it proclaims is hard to hear, let alone practice?

Will we say Wait, Listen, Remember?

If we want to be known as a woman of courage, we must.

Love and blessings,

Denise

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