The story of Deborah reads like a narrative straight from a fictional novel. She was both a judge and a prophetess at a time when the Israelites were marked by disobedience against God. Despite being a woman in a male-dominated world, Deborah judged and proclaimed God’s Word to the children of Israel faithfully. It is in her role as a prophetess that she summoned Barak and gave him the Word from the Lord: _“Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?”_(Judges 4:6-7).

Upon receiving this Word, Barak does not immediately set forth but rather insists that Deborah goes with him to war. She agrees but foretells that the victory that God will bring about will be secured through the hands of a woman, who we later see to be Jael. War was a gory affair and a preserve of men but Deborah courageously went alongside Barak because of the Word of the Lord. Thus, we learn from her that courage is not a factor of human strength and ability but rather of God’s leading and obedience to His leading. It is not the absence of fear but the triumph of it through the power of the Holy Spirit. In the words of Franklin Roosevelt, former American president, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” God is more important than our fear and therefore, whatever God has called you to do, be strong and very courageous (Joshua 1:7).

1. What is your understanding of courage?

2. In what ways that the story of Deborah challenge your notion of what courage is?

3. What has God asked you to do that you have not yet obeyed because of fear? What are you going to do about it after today’s devotion?