Cowardly Friends - Pt 3
By Professor Colin Smith
Reflective Reading: I Samuel 17-18
Children should pick for themselves friends who are courageous and avoid making friends with cowards. A coward is a person who exaggerates danger and avoids facing unpleasant or painful situations. They are the sluggard mentioned in Proverbs 22:13 who says: There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets.
We do not need to scare our children, but they must understand there is no condition or place in which they will be completely safe. They might contract a virus, meet someone they disagree with, live through economic hardships, or face any number of horrible things they have not thought of yet.
However, even though many awful things may happen, they should not worry or trouble themselves over the ‘what if’s’ of life. What is the key?
We must teach them about cowards.
A coward is one who looks at every circumstance and convinces themselves the worst possible outcome will occur. Cowardice should be offensive to us for two reasons. First, it is an inability to see that God is with us. Second, cowardice implies a lack of trust that God is strong enough to deliver us from trials, should we fall into them. However, this does not mean we want to teach our children to befriend fool-hardy or reckless people who foolishly take risks.
In 1 Samuel 17:11, King Saul was “afraid” Goliath would kill him. In 1 Samuel 18:12, Saul was worried David would steal the kingdom from him. In each case, Saul refused to believe God was with him and could deliver him. Ironically, Saul’s lack of the “fear of God” when he disobeyed God’s instructions in 1 Samuel 15 resulted in God rejecting him as king over Israel. Saul’s cowardice in 1 Samuel 17-18 and his recklessness in 1 Samuel 15 all stemmed from the same root. A lack of trust that God was present with him.
We must teach our children to trust that God is present with them and to seek out friends who share this belief. Conversely, we must help our children understand that they should avoid friendships with reckless people and cowards.
Recommended Reading on Developing Courage:
Buried in the Snow (9-14)
The Haunted Room (9-14)
The Captive (12-99)
