Daily Encourager - July 15, 2020
But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. - 2 Timothy 4:17-18
Faith is a wonderful, powerful thing for those how possess it. Faith helps us in our discouraged times, it uplifts us in our difficult times. Faith moves us every closer to the one in whom we have faith, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul had a faith that the Lord would stand by his side, give him strength, and see that the message he was given to proclaim would indeed be proclaimed. In the past, I’ve wonder what it would take to have a faith like that of Paul? To be so in love, so devoted, and so sure of God that we believed that nothing that came against us could ever hurt us. Paul did so much more than believe that God was by his side, he knew God was by his side. Paul knew exactly what his calling was, and he didn’t stray from that mission, even against opposition. God continued to motivate his faith to proclaim the message of abundant and eternal life to the Gentiles (or nations).
If only our calling was so simple, that we didn’t have to pick and choose what God was calling us to do, but simply to have the faith to go out and do that simple task. Wait! That is our calling…
Like the great cloud of witnesses that has gone before us, we have been called to go and do something about our faith, something simply, to share it. We do not have to wait until we fully understand, but once we realize that we are on a journey that goes with Christ, that we are in this Christian walk we walk with others, and invite them to join us on a journey to living in a better kingdom. Not once in scripture are we told that the faith that we have is for us alone, but that it should be shared with all those whom we come in contact with; faith is communal.
The problem is we are afraid. We are afraid that we will offend someone, or make them angry because of the message we share. We are afraid of being in community right now, and are cautions with those whom we congregate. However, we who have faith recognize we are still connected in this journey. We still have a message to share, love, compassion and grace to offer.
We can play it safe, but we still have this message of our faith, this relationship with God to share. Our faith is not something to be kept secret. Our relationship with God is not just for secret alone prayer; our relationship with God is something to be shared. God is not a secret and we should not be secretive about the kingdom God is offering in faith. If we want to have the faith of Paul, we have to be encouraged to have the boldness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Lord will rescue us in our greatest times of need. God will deliver us safe, and we can live without fear knowing that we will be taken into His presence in the heavenly kingdom. It may be difficult in our current circumstances, but I have faith to believe we will get through.
Grace & Peace,
Sam