For the past three years, my daily and ongoing prayer for myself has been that the Lord would grant me wisdom and fortitude to be faithful in my calling. Those are the two divine gifts that have seemed to me, from the start, to be most vital and necessary to my office and station: Wisdom to discern what is good and right and true in a wide variety of circumstances, and fortitude to make, communicate, and implement difficult decisions. I praise God for His mercy, and I give thanks for the patience and prayers of His people as I seek to serve His purposes.
We know from the Holy Scriptures that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of genuine wisdom (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). Such “fear” of the Lord is a matter of reverence and awe, but also a recognition of His authority and the justice of His Law, as well as an understanding that all things derive from Him, depend on Him, and finally answer to His judgment. Thus do we rightly fear His wrath and humbly submit to His Commandments. But the true fear of the Lord proceeds, not only in the humility of repentance, but also in the confidence of faith in His Gospel. Thus do we also “love and trust in Him and gladly do what He commands,” as the Catechism teaches us.
As for fortitude, it is the courage to do what is good and right – as determined by the Word of God – simply because it is the right thing to do, irrespective of the consequences. We admire that sort of fortitude on the part of soldiers on the battlefield, for example, or similarly in the case of firefighters or police officers, who put themselves in harm’s way and do not flinch from doing their duty in the face of danger. In politics and personal relationships, in social situations, and even in the life of the Church on earth, we are not always so positive in our regard of fortitude, leastwise not in recent years. Confidence is sometimes perceived and regarded as arrogance, especially when the very concept of objective truth is called into question. As Christians, we know and trust that God’s Word is true and sure and certain, and we absolutely should have confidence in what He has spoken and promised – humble in ourselves, but courageous in Him.
There are those who do seem to revel in confrontation and controversy, and we ought not to succumb to those temptations of our fallen flesh and sinful hearts. Nor should we suppose that the fortitude of faith is something we can muster up within ourselves. Our sufficiency is not in ourselves, in our own wisdom, reason, or strength. If that is where we look for our confidence, courage, and resolve, we will inevitably fall into either arrogant pride or else hopeless despair. But genuine godly fortitude flows from the same source as genuine godly wisdom, namely, from fear, love, and trust in the one true God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and His Word to us.
Although I know these things, and I often convey this counsel to others, I struggle to remember and take it to heart in my own daily Christian life. As often as I allow myself to fall into the trap of relying on my own wisdom, so often do I end up either stubbornly insisting on my own way, or else becoming indecisive, uncertain, and scared to proceed as I should. In sharing these faults with my father confessor recently, I was grateful to receive, not only the precious word and gift of Holy Absolution, but also the encouragement and guidance of my pastor’s scriptural counsel. Most notably, he advised me to pray, not only for wisdom and fortitude, but also for peace; for he pointed out that Christian fortitude derives especially from the peace that we have in Christ Jesus. And that is exactly right! It is in knowing that our life and salvation are safe and secure in Him, that He is our sufficiency, our righteousness and holiness, and our divine surety in the face of every foe, that we have the confidence, courage, and fortitude to do what we are called to do.
So have I added the final stanzas of one of my favorite hymns to my daily and ongoing prayers:
“Lord, be our Light when worldly darkness veils us; Lord, be our Shield when earthly armor fails us; and in the day when hell itself assails us, grant us Your Peace, Lord: Peace in our hearts, where sinful thoughts are raging, Peace in Your Church, our troubled souls assuaging, Peace when the world its endless war is waging, Peace in Your heaven!” (LSB 659, sts. 3-4).