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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for June 4, 2010
“What’s the Most Courageous Thing You’ve Done?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Here is a question I want you to ponder.
What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?
When I think of courageous I think of firemen charging up the Trade Center stairs while everyone else is charging down. Courage is walking straight into danger, right?
Well yes, danger is one thing that reveals courage, but here are a couple others, according to the dictionary. Courage is facing and dealing with anything that is dangerous, difficult or painful.
So if you have faced danger and put your life on the line for others, like police officers and firefighters and soldiers do every day, then God bless you. You are truly courageous.
And if facing danger was the only definition of courageous, then I’m not sure I’ve done anything courageous, not like that.
But courage is also dealing with the difficult and the painful.
So think of those three areas – the dangerous, the difficult and the painful – and now think about my question.
What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?
Here is what some people said.
One young woman said, “When we went snow boarding in the Canadian Rockies.”
One musician said, “Leaving the band and going solo.”
One woman said it was when she agreed to go out with a certain man – who later became her husband.
One young man said, “The most courageous thing I’ve ever done is telling my best friend I had a massive crush on her.”
Some judges in Montana were asked that question.
One judge said he actually intervened and stopped a rape that was taking place in a parking lot.
One judge said it was limiting his law practice so he could be an involved father – and isn’t that interesting? Maybe you don’t think of that as courageous, but I can see how that could be a difficult and painful thing – to squelch your professional ambitions.
One judge said the most courageous thing she had done was, “raise my two daughters with my husband in today’s society. Being a good parent is the most difficult and most important job a person could have.”
And one judge said, “It takes courage to represent indigent criminal defendants by court appointment. These cases are generally unpopular and thankless, but representation of criminal defendants is essential to the continued vitality of our adversarial system of justice.”
And that’s from a man who also said he had run with the bulls in Pamplona.
So what about you? What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?
I think for me it was moving my family halfway across the country a few years ago. I have certainly done more spontaneous and dangerous things, but moving my family away from everything we knew, from a very comfortable place, to a place where we knew no one, simply because I felt God calling me here – that was a courageous move for me. I knew it would cause pain to some we left behind, and I knew it was a risk for all of us because you never know how things are going to turn out. But in spite of the risk and the difficulty and even some pain, we made the move.
I’ve done a lot of things that didn’t seem very courageous at the time, but now I realize they do take a measure of courage. Things like asking a girl out or performing at a music recital. Public speaking takes courage, as does getting married and having children and buying a house.
For tons of people, starting their own business is very courageous.
Now I want to ask you another question.
Have you done anything courageous lately?
It’s one thing to live on your laurels, but maybe it’s time to step up and do something courageous now.
Maybe you need to take a stand on something, stand up for what is right. Maybe there is an injustice and you need to get off the sidelines.
Maybe God is nudging you to do something but you are reluctant because it will be difficult or painful or even dangerous.
Well it’s time to do the courageous!
First Corinthians 16:13 indicates that we should be people of courage!
I like this phrase from Second Samuel 13:28 – be courageous, and valiant.
So remember, courage is not just putting your life in danger. Being courageous includes doing something difficult or even painful. You don’t withdraw from it, but you move toward it.
So ponder these two questions today. Here they are, one more time.
What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?
And what courageous thing have you done lately?
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
Here is what the judges said in its entirety: http://billingsgazette.com/app/candidates/judges/
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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