I recommend Stephen Ambrose's excellent book on the life of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark entitled,
Undaunted Courage. It is a must-read for every American who loves the history of our great nation. President Thomas Jefferson sent out Lewis and Clark on their daring mission of traversing the North American continent in 1803. These men were imbued with courage. One of the 30 men who went on the expedition, Sergeant Patrick Gass, wrote in his journal how they were warned that they were going "to pass through a country possessed by numerous, powerful and warlike nations of savages, of gigantic stature, fierce, treacherous and cruel; and particularly hostile to white men." (Ambrose,
Undaunted Courage, p. 131) While on their journey to the Pacific Ocean, Meriwether Lewis was chased by a grizzly bear on June 14, 1805. He ran for about 80 yards, and the bear caught up with him, so he went into the river, and the bear followed. His gun was not loaded, so he took his espontoon (a six-foot wooden stick) and pointed it at the bear, and then it left him! While in central Montana near the Great Falls of the Missouri River, three buffalo bulls spotted Lewis, left their herd, and ran directly toward him. Lewis proceeded to run directly at them, and the buffalo stopped about a hundred yards from Lewis, stared at him, and then turned and ran away. The next day when he awoke from a nap, Lewis discovered a large rattlesnake coiled up about ten feet from him at the base of the trunk of the very tree under which he had taken his nap. He killed the snake and went on about his day. (Ambrose, p. 238-239) Thomas Jefferson wrote these words about his friend Meriwether Lewis, "Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction, careful as a father to those committed to his charge . . . I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprize to him." (Ambrose, p. 8)
The missionaries Paul and Barnabas also possessed this fearless, bold, undaunted courage. These men risked their lives not to explore unknown geographical territories but to preach the Gospel to those who had never heard it before.
In AD 46-48, Paul and Barnabus made the first cross-cultural missionary journey as they traveled to Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey and evangelized the people there and along the way. We can get a clear picture of their undaunted courage from
verse 21 of
Acts 14, which says they decided to return to the very cities where they had faced great persecution and ridicule, and where Paul had nearly died by stoning.
Let us pray and ask God to give us this undaunted courage for the cause of Christ. May God grant to you and me the boldness to stand for the Lord and what is right, no matter how unpopular our stance may be. The kingdom of God moves forward through the courageous and heroic acts of people just like you and me. Use us, oh Lord, we pray!
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