Be brave

Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD. - Psalm 31v24

When our children are little we often have to encourage them to 'be brave' when they face situations that are scary to them. They are afraid because they don't is going to happen next. They face uncertainty. Uncertainty, by the very nature of what it is, is scary.

The bad thing is that that fear of the unknown never leaves us. At lot of times it is not as bad as we think it is going to be, but the reality is that sometimes it is so much worse that we expected.

My Valley of Vision reading for this morning was titled 'Year's End.' I just read them consequentially so often the title does not necessarily fit the day, but today was just right for me. It dealt with a new calendar year ahead, but it fits any time, especially when we don't know what is coming next.

'I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead;

If thou hast appointed me storms of of tribulation, thou wilt be with me in them;

If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation, I shall not drown;

If I am to die, I shall see thy face the sooner;

If a painful end is to be my lot, grant me the grace that I fail not;

If I am to be cast aside from the service I love, I can make no stipulation;

Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or trial, as a chosen vessel always meet for thy use.'

Even as I type those words I can feel that anxious feeling in my gut. These are scary words to put down on paper. They are words that I don't really know whether I can say or not. They are words that I really don't want to deal with.

Why? Because they make me afraid. It is scary to pray that sort of prayer.

But God says, like a loving parent, 'Be of good courage.' He will give us the strength we need to face every situation. If we really trust Him like we say we do we can pray those words above because our confidence to get through the unknown is on Him, not us.

'Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the the future. I can face uncertain days, because He lives.'

It sounds great. It makes a lovely song. But do we have the faith to really believe it?