Jesus offers to meet you there with what only He can do. No matter what you need to be brave enough for today, And when He walks out on water in the middle of the night, terrifying His disciples, He offers a simple exhortation, “Take courage. In another, He says “Be encouraged!” and then offers healing. In one account, He says, ‘Take heart!” and then offers forgiveness of sin.
In each instance, Jesus begins with a command: “Take courage!” And then Jesus offers the essence of Himself to the person as the way courage will be enacted. Is used four times in the Gospels, always by Jesus Himself. My self-manufactured bravery always fell short. I needed a courage that came from outside myself.
But what I learned along the way was I would never have enough courage on my own to face life without fear. When Cameron struggled later that year with an injury, I wanted to be brave enough for her. Brave enough to mother well and brave enough to make good choices in my marriage. I found myself wanting to be brave enough for my job. I might not be facing a war of Narnian proportions, but what if my daily life still required bravery?īecame a sticky phrase in my head - an inspiration for the morning and a personal challenge when I didn’t want to do the hard thing. Kindled a flame in my soul as I began to think about all the ways I wanted to be brave enough: brave enough to speak up, brave enough to be graceful, brave enough to forgive. I had no idea how important that moment would become. He looks down at her and asks her somberly, “Can you be brave?” The spunk and transparency of the youngest character, Lucy, reminded me of Cameron, and I squeezed her a little, hoping she noticed the same.Īt one point in the movie, Lucy speaks with Father Christmas, and he asks her if she is ready for the war that will take place in Narnia. I had my arm around my 9-year-old daughter, Cameron, while we watched But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!”
0 kommentar(er)
