Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
6 17 2026
The Heroes We Don’t Think About
The Men We Admire. The Men God Is Calling Us To Become.
Today I’d like to talk with you about heroes. What is a hero? How do they become one? And what can we learn from them?
When we think of heroes, our minds often go to the battlefield. We think about soldiers who charged into danger, firefighters who entered burning buildings, police officers who stepped into situations the rest of us were running away from. They made decisions that put their own lives on the line for the sake of someone else.
I’ve read many of their stories over the years. Some came home wounded. Some came home disfigured. Some never came home at all. Yet many of those who survived would tell you they have no regrets. They believed the cause was bigger than themselves.
What’s interesting is that many heroes never woke up that morning planning to become one.
They simply found themselves standing at a moment of decision.
A moment where fear said one thing and character said another.
A moment where self-preservation collided with sacrifice.
And they chose sacrifice.
That made me wonder about the heroes God has placed in my own life. Who are the people who made a significant difference in your life? Who spoke a word at exactly the right moment? Who helped correct your course when you were drifting? Who challenged your thinking? Who helped you see something you couldn’t see on your own? Who stood beside you when everyone else walked away?
Most of us can immediately think of someone. Yet we rarely call them heroes. We call it coincidence. We call it timing. We call it luck. But perhaps God calls it something else. Perhaps God calls it obedience.
The world teaches us that heroes are extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. The Bible often teaches the opposite. God uses ordinary people doing ordinary acts of obedience.
Moses had excuses.
Gideon was hiding.
David was overlooked.
Peter was impulsive.
Yet God used each of them because biblical heroism has never been about ability. It has always been about availability.
Judges 6:12 says, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Yet when God spoke those words,
Gideon wasn’t acting like a mighty warrior at all.
He was hiding.
God wasn’t speaking to who Gideon was. God was speaking to Gideon about who he could become. That should encourage every man reading this. Because most of us don’t feel heroic. We feel ordinary. And too many times we feel inadequate. We feel like we’re still figuring things out.
And yet God specializes in calling ordinary men into extraordinary purposes.
The truth is that some of the greatest heroes I’ve ever known never stormed a beach, never rescued someone from a burning building, and never received public recognition.
They taught Sunday school. They loved their wives. They prayed for their children. They kept their word. They showed up when it wasn’t convenient. They quietly pointed people toward Jesus. And because they did, lives were changed.
Maybe that’s the kind of hero our world desperately needs right now.
Not bigger celebrities. Not louder voices. Not stronger opinions. Just ordinary men fully surrendered to an extraordinary God.
Because you never know when one act of obedience may become the turning point in someone else’s story. And if we are able to contribute to planting that seed, watering it to grow stronger during the storms to an eternal end. What is that effort worth?
Questions to Consider
Who are the “hidden heroes” God used to shape your life? Think on that awhile.
How did their example influence your faith, character, or direction?
Could God be asking you to become that kind of influence for someone else today? The fact is…He is. We have just got to recognize the calling and surrender to it.
“What part of this hit home for you this morning? What are you carrying today that needs prayer? If you’d like, send me a prayer request here. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit in together. (where two are gathered.) You are not walking alone. Just hit reply…
I read every response.”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE3jyYhHluo
I surrender all Carrie Underwood
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