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Courage: showing strength, practicing perseverance and acting in bravery in the face of fear, pain, difficulty or grief.
My dear friends,
I just returned from a ministry trip. I had put this blog post and podcast up before I left, not knowing about what would be happening in Boulder. My heart has been sick, my shoulders feel heavy with the grief of what has been happening in our country, and especially the last two weeks with violent shootings. We have had our share of violent shootings in Colorado. One even involved our church and friends. But, I do not want to make light of the suffering and pain we all feel during this time. But I do think that allowing Paul to encourage us from the long list of his own sufferings—and I do think, for our children’s sake, we must choose courage, showing strength, practicing perseverance, acting bravely in this face of fear, pain, difficulty or grief. I pray that God’s comfort and mercy will be real to you. And I pray you will all find a way forward—with gentleness for yourself, for your days, for those you .love. And may God’s compassion and sympathy be known to you in whatever emotional and spiritual place you find yourself. Here Is the blog/podcast I prepared last weekend for today.
After almost 68 years of subduing the life God has given me, I have walked through my fair share of adventures, joys, and sometimes disasters. One of the worst things the enemy can do is to truly convince us that our situation is unique, that we are completely alone, and that we will never be able to make it out to see the silver lining. While it's easy to believe that we are unique in these times of darkness and difficulty, scripture is filled with stories of disaster and destruction.
Acts 27:10 says:
"Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also."
Paul was in the midst of a disastrous situation, and he made sure to warn his crew about the storm that he believed would cause absolute destruction. This would be a very different story if Paul left things off right there with warnings, worry, and hopelessness. However, an angel spoke to Paul and he went on to tell his crew in verse 25:
"Keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me."
Paul's words of hope and faith restored the crew and gave them courage.
Jesus himself encountered many disastrous situations. However, even in the midst of raging seas, He spoke peace and calm over the chaos. How would you react if a crazy, angry, hateful crowd came up to you and attempted to throw you off a cliff? When that happened to Jesus, He simply passed through those people and went to the next town. Even when the devil plotted hate and harm against Him, Jesus never allowed anything to stand in the way of His purpose.
Because of the coming of Jesus, He took away any power the enemy could have to hurt us. However, we still have to choose faith, choose courage, and choose to keep walking through the disasters until we find joy and by faith, hold on to the steadfast hand of Jesus..
Many I know are in the midst of a battle right now, a war that is raging in your heart and soul. I challenge you to walk with courage and faith through this season, no matter how disastrous the voyage may appear to be. Just like the apostle Paul, your words of hope and faith will give you the strength and courage to keep going. You will leave a legacy of faith and faithfulness that will help generations to come, as Paul’s story has encouraged us.
So today, as an act of your will and worship, write out in your journal just where you need courage, how you will take the strength of God and write a story of His miraculous grace in the midst of your storms.
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