1 Maccabees 5:40-44: in context

As Judas Maccabeus approaches an enemy army across a stream, the enemy commander Timotheus reveals his own reading of the situation to his captains. If Judas crosses over to us first, he says, we will not be able to withstand him, for he will surely defeat us; but if he is afraid, and camps on the far side of the river, then we will cross over and defeat him. The enemy's whole assessment hinged on one thing: whether Judas would come boldly or hang back in fear. And Judas crossed over first, and the enemy was defeated and fled.

It is striking that the enemy's own calculation turned on Judas's boldness or fear. They did not fear his numbers or his weapons chiefly, but his resolve: if he comes boldly, we cannot stand; if he hesitates in fear, we will win. They understood that boldness and fear are decisive, that the one who advances with resolve carries an advantage the fearful hand over by their hesitation. And Judas crossed over first, leading his people into the battle, and the enemy fled before him. His decisive courage carried the day, just as the enemy had foreseen his fear would have lost it. There is a principle here about the difference boldness and fear make in facing what opposes us. Often the outcome of a challenge turns less on the size of the obstacle than on whether we face it boldly or hang back in fear. Fear hesitates, holds back, gives the advantage to what we face; boldness advances, and often the opposition that seemed formidable gives way. The wicked flee, the proverb says, when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. Hesitation born of fear can hand victory to what we face, while decisive courage, going forward first, can carry us through. This is not recklessness, but the courage that acts rather than being paralyzed by fear. And for God's people, such courage rests on his presence with us. Be strong and courageous, God tells Joshua; do not be afraid, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. God has not given us a spirit of fear, Paul says, but of power and love and self-control. The courage to advance rather than hang back is nourished by the assurance that God goes with us. This searches how we face the challenges before us. Do we hang back in fear, hesitating, and so hand the advantage to what we face, as the enemy hoped Judas would? Or do we, in the strength God gives, face the challenge boldly, going forward with resolve? The enemy knew that Judas's fear would lose and his boldness would win; and often our own challenges turn on the same, whether we face them in the boldness God's presence makes possible or hang back in a fear that hands them the victory.

When I face a challenge or opposition, do I hang back in fear, hesitating and so handing the advantage to what I face, as the enemy hoped Judas would, or can I face it boldly in the strength God gives, going forward with resolve, and can the enemy's own reckoning, that Judas's fear would lose but his boldness would win, move me to meet my challenges with the courage that God's presence with me makes possible rather than the fear that hands them the victory?