“Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done’ ” (Acts 21:13-14).

Christianity challenges each of us to follow Christ with courage. The apostle Paul lived in constant danger from opponents of his message. He had a clear perspective on the difficulties he faced and he expressed that view in his second letter to the Corinthians: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

Paul knew that suffering was only temporary and that in the final analysis, he could not lose. That sustained him in the face of every crisis. Some of us are timid by nature and wouldn’t dare boast about our courage before we have a chance to demonstrate it. Paul knew what he could do and wasn’t shy about proclaiming it.

There were two things for which Paul was willing to risk his life and those two things will sustain us when we need courage. One was the name of Jesus. When Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus his focus in life shifted from religion to total allegiance to Christ. He gave up religion for a relationship for which he was willing to die. The other thing that drove Paul to take risks was his commitment to the will of God. He lived to fulfill God’s purpose for his life.

When we come to the place where we can look back over our lives the issue won’t be the talents we had and our potential, but our willingness to put God’s will above our own will. When we commit our lives to the name of Jesus and the will of God nothing can stop us. We may be persecuted but we will never be abandoned. We may be perplexed and often are, but we will never give in to despair.