Boldness

The book of Second Kings tells us the prophet Elisha was visited on his deathbed by Joash, king of Israel. Elisha told Joash to smite the ground with his arrows to represent the Lord's upcoming deliverance of the Israelites from Syria.  Joash did as he was told three times and then stopped.  Elisha was very disappointed and told him he should have smitten five or six times.

Galatians 4:18 says, "It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing."  God's plan for me is not for me to quietly tip-toe through life, accepting wrongs and unfavorable circumstances without trying to change or improve them and whispering in a lackadaisical manner, "Que sera, sera; whatever will be will be."  No! I must face life and its challenges with zest and vitality.

Jesus became a man so he could experience life as we know it. He knows all our frustrations.  When I first started captaining my online chess team, I wasn't the most understanding person. I was a nice person, but I lived strictly by the rules and expected others to do the same without making mistakes. 

Now five years later, I still hold a high standard; but it's much easier to understand the shortcomings of others and to be gracious. Why?  Because I've been through or seen nearly everything myself and have made my own mistakes. Jesus, the captain of our salvation, went through everything Himself; He knows what it's like to be human.  Although He is perfect, He understands our weaknesses.

Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  There will be many times when we don't know what to do. Sometimes we'll make the wrong decisions.  Sometimes we'll be confused. It's hard, perhaps foolish, to be bold when we're confused. It's nearly impossible to be bold when we don't know what to do. 

But God is not the author of confusion.  He is the Author of peace. God doesn't want us to languish in the land of confusion.  He wants us to walk out of our mental turmoil into His marvelous light.  Boldness comes when we have peace with God and know we are in the will of God.

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." --Romans 5:1-2

"Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Jesus."  --Sheila Walsh

Linking with: