Courage!

Acts 22:30-23:11
Luke 6:39-49
Sometimes what God wills from us is the very thing we feel that we lack. In my case it is patience. I never have enough of it, but God seems to expect it from me every day. Our reading from Acts this morning mentions another attribute that God calls for: courage! And on those occasions when God calls for courage, we may become jealous of the apostle Paul who seemed to have no lack of it. He was able to withstand all sorts of persecution and frequent confrontations with confidence. How did he do that? Acts says that at one particularly difficult time in his life “…the Lord stood near (Paul) and said, ‘Keep up your courage!’” (Acts 23:11). The Lord gave Paul courage to do what needed to be done. But what about you and me?

In Luke, Jesus offers us some insight into the matter. Jesus said, “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built” (Luke 6:47-48). One way to make sure that the Lord is standing near to us is to make sure that, to the best of our ability, we are standing near the Lord. And it is not enough to be aware of God in Jesus. We also are called to draw near to Jesus, hear the words that he speaks to us, and then act on those words as his followers. The relationship between Jesus and disciples is one of encouragement, that is a granting or giving of courage—as the Lord did for Paul. When we hear the word of God and are led by it, then we are empowered to live in faithful obedience no matter what we encounter. Few of us may ever be called before a council as Paul was, to be examined about our faith. But all of us are called to live our lives, day in and day out, as the people of God. Frankly, even that can take a great deal of courage. By God’s grace the encouragement is there to be claimed if we will hear Jesus’ words and act on them. Our knees may still wobble, but we are now more aware of God’s presence in our lives.

Prayer: Lord, when we falter, when we shy away from the challenge, lift us up and encourage us to live as your faithful disciples.