A Call to Courage

Book: Women on the Front Lines (Michal Ann Goll)

Chapter: A Call to Courage – Joan of Ark

Joan’s Legacy:

What made the difference? Joan possessed the only qualification that mattered: She loved God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. She was completely sold out to Him. God chose her and used her because she made herself available to Him. Her executioner claimed that her heart would not burn. If this was so, perhaps it was because her heart had already been burned by her passion for God. She was so consumed by Him that nothing else could touch her. We can all take courage from the fact that the only thing God requires from us in order for Him to use us is that we know Him, Love Him, and make ourselves available to Him.

The standards Joan laid down for her army show us that the Lord has called His army (us) to a life of purity, holiness, and complete devotion to Him. If we are to be effective and fully usable, we must put away all filth and uncleanness, all sin and evil thinking, and be clean vessels before the Lord. God has raised His standard of righteousness for us to rally under and has told us, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (I Peter 1:16). The apostle Paul expressed it well when he wrote, “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of all the mercies of God to make a decisive dedication of your bodies (presenting all your members and faculties) as a living sacrifice, holy – (devoted, consecrated) – and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable – (rational, intelligent) – service and spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)

We must be blameless in our behavior, wholesome in our speech, and consistent in our walk.

Regardless of what the world tries to do to us, we can walk blameless and undefiled before God. The purity and holiness that He places in us can come out as an extension of us, and we can then pass them on to other people. We don’t have to be tainted by the world. On the contrary, we can influence the world for Christ. It isn’t easy, and it costs everything, but with God’s help it can be done. And He receives the glory!

Joan’s example encourages us to dare to believe that we can do whatever God calls us to do. It assures us that He will back us up in our call and bring it to pass as we obey and follow Him. It is inconceivable that Joan could have done what she did without the hand of God on her life. One thing that the Lord told Joan again and again was, “Go On! Go on, Daughter of God! Go on; I will be with you and I will be your help.” He says the same thing to us today: “Go on to your destiny, into your calling, into your place before the Lord. Go on! Push through! Endure! Let Me show Myself strong on your behalf!”

God is looking for men and women who will be sold out to Him; He wants people who will let their hearts and minds be so consumed with Him that nothing else matters. All that mattered to Joan was reaching Rheims and seeing her king crowned according to God’s will. Doing so required pressing through the heart of the English army, moving through the hardest and greatest difficulties to reach the place of victory. It is the same for us. We need to go to the places that is the most difficult for us, where the enemy seems to have the greatest stronghold, and enthrone Jesus there. We need to raise His banner and make a way for Him to come and receive the honor due His name.

The cost to Joan for courage was her life, but her reward was the company and presence of God and the fulfillment of His purpose in and through her. To have courage will cost us everything as well; our whole lives given completely to the Lord in sacrifice and devotion. What is our reward? Life! We want to proclaim life, not death; blessing not cursing; and light, not darkness. However, it is only in losing our life that we find it. And what we find is His life, not ours.

Courage is not something we can drum up from within ourselves it comes from knowing God and trusting Him completely. As we learn to depend on Him rather than on ourselves, He releases His power in and through us – and that power can change our families, our friends, our communities, our nation, and even the whole world.