Balancing Prudence with Courage

Introduction

They say that those who are courageous still experience fear, they are just able to overcome that fear. Today’s blog post is a bit different than what we typically consider here at Faith Works, but in the spirit of the season it’s my hope that you can relate these considerations to your mental health, spiritual, and recovery solutions.

In this article, I want to share a short personal story with a lesson behind it, and then consider different virtues that lesson extols. Finally, I’ll attempt to relate these lessons to the recovery journey.

My hurricane season story

During hurricane Hellene, we did our best to prepare and weather the storm. She hit Appalachia quite badly, and many were still recovering from the fallout when hurricane Milton was announced. Milton had an unusual path that went right through the majority of Florida. When Milton was announced, I was actually visiting a friend out of state and had the choice: Do I go back home right before the dead of the storm, or do I extend my stay out of Florida to avoid the potential damage it could cause?

Some may have taken a while to deliberate the decision, weigh the pros and cons, and then come to a reasoned decision about what the best course of action was. Alternatively, what I did was take a moment to reflect and consider my intuition/guides/Higher Power, and made the decision to go back to Florida to help my family prepare for the storm. I’m glad I did.

At first, I didn’t think about how my decision may have showcased a lack of prudence. I just knew that I loved my family and friends, and would feel like a complete coward if my family was all harmed while I chose to sit back and do nothing to try and tangibly help them.

That isn’t to say I was super man or anything, or did a majority of the work. My most concrete activity was helping to put the shutters on the window. However, I was there to make plans for additional storms, make observations on how to know when to evacuate, and to pray for the entire affected area as well as those affected by Helene (admittedly, I should have done this more — a lot of the time, it’s “out of sight, out of mind”).

During the storm, I had hope that we would get through it just fine. It had already been downgraded from a category 5, with different stations reporting that it was either a 3 or a 4. Even though we didn’t have all the necessary storm shutters for all our windows, we managed to only have minor fence damage from the storm. Praise God for protecting as many as He Willed from this trial, and may it be a wake up call for us to become more conscious stewards of our planet and the resources we’ve been bestowed.

As a recovering addict, being a wise steward of resources is both a constant lesson and a constant struggle. The Lord has told me that addicts, myself included, have the opportunity to break generational curses of addiction if they just trust in the process and fight the good fight. This hurricane season has been a review of many lessons learned along the journey of life, and it reaffirms this scripture:

Lessons learned

After reflecting on the whole circumstance, I kept considering a few lessons from the whole experience. They are:

1. Trust God’s plan

2. Balance courage with prudence

3. Give to receive; steward your resources wisely

Trust God’s plan

This one has been a theme in several other people’s lives I know lately, so maybe it’s just that season to learn this one. Even the things that seem like they deserve total despair can be rectified through our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. It only takes a mustard seed of faith and the willingness to do our part, and mountains can be moved into the sea.

It’s easy to trust God’s plan when things are going well for us. There are countless stories about even losing faith in God during those times, because we begin to feel like we were responsible for our own blessings. But we will most likely get humbled for our troubles.

It’s much more of a challenge to trust God’s plan when things seem like they’re in disarray to us. It’s during these moments that we should remind ourselves that we’re right where we’re supposed to be, and everything is working out for the good. Before you know it, the storm will pass.

Balance courage with prudence

Sometimes, we have to sit back, reflect, and plan the best course of action. Other times, we have to make a decision in a moment that will completely change the course of our lives. It may help to prepare for the latter during the former, although sometimes you simply have to expect the unexpected.

Although our modern lives have removed much of the dangers of the realm, there are some times when we just have to accept we won’t be safe for a bit and do our best to ready ourselves. More often than not, it will be okay. But we all have to die some time. And that’s part of the journey.

Steward your resources

We’ve all been granted a certain set of resources under our domain. How we manage the little determines whether those resources are squandered, or whether they grow and multiply.

This is a lifetime lesson for essentially all of us. I don’t know all the mysteries of the universe, but it seems that what we give out returns to us multiplied. If you see yourself lacking in some ways, be content, grateful, and thankful for those areas in which you’ve been blessed. You can always work on the areas that you perceive yourself as lacking in, but sometimes you have to chalk it up to trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Combined with the other two lessons, especially trusting God’s plan, you’ll be a lot better at managing those things that Adonai has placed under your management.

Relating this to Recovery

When we’re in addiction, we are making a mess of our lives. You could argue that in a way we’re showing courage, but in a way we’re just running from our problems. We definitely aren’t practicing prudence, and we are trying to take control of God’s plan by squandering our resources.

These virtues likely aren’t the first things on our mind as we sober up, but as time goes on we see the errors of our ways in regards to all of them. The process of making and living amends does wonders in rectifying these problems. Helping the still sick and suffering likewise is a wonderful way to give in order to receive.

“We can only keep what we have by giving it away”.

As of writing this post, I still partake in nicotine and caffeine. So I’m sure my vision is still somewhat clouded. But by practicing proper principles as far as I know of them, and having faith in my Higher Power that all of this is happening for a good reason, it makes the tough times more manageable while offering more joy, peace, and appreciation during the good times. It’s my hope that you’ll be able to cultivate these feelings in your own divinely orchestrated timing, as well.

Conclusion

Sometimes we’re faced with life-changing circumstances that we didn’t expect. During the heat of the action, we’re given the opportunity to realize things about ourselves that we didn’t even know about. While living in the moment provides benefits, reflecting on lessons learned can help us to be better prepared for the next storm in this life, and hopefully in the hereafter (Lord willing).

As always, may the force be with you. If you liked this article and want more free content related to spirituality, mental health, and addiction recovery, please consider joining the newsletter at faithworks.beehiiv.com/subscribe or sharing the article with someone you think it could help.

Until next time, take care.