12-13-2016

Good Morning All,

             Philippians 4:13; “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

     It was in the middle of May that my wife and I took our oldest grandson and our granddaughter to the park for an early season fun time evening.  Our grandson was three but his birthday was in about ten days when he would attain the ripe old age of four.  He climbed to the top of one of the slides, stopped and climbed back down.  He told his grandmother that when he was four he would be brave enough to slide down the slide.  During the rest of the summer, he did slide down the big slide; he took swimming lessons even putting his face underwater.  He also went water skiing with his cousins making him braver than his landlubber grandfather.  All which makes me wonder what his thinking process was.  What was so magical or important about being four?  Was it from watching the kids who were four in his preschool all year?  Was it a mental image he had?  Had he been told that when he was four he would be brave?  We may never know.

    Are you brave?  Do you climb to the top of whatever huge slide is in your life and then climb down because of fear?  Do you tell yourself that you will be braver later?  What does it mean to be brave?  I remembering reading a famous general once said brave men are really men who have nothing else to lose.  I am not sure I agree with that definition.  I think a brave person is a person who has confidence; an inner calming strength that allows you to see clearly and to think clearly.  Some will tell you that it comes with training which allows you to look at the huge picture but rather than be overwhelmed; you focus in on a small point that you can attack or deal with.  That is how fire fighters and emts do it; they focus where they can make a difference.  This is how first responders to disasters respond; they break down the large picture into smaller more manageable ones.  But what about things that are not ones to prepare for?  What about death or illness or sudden changes in life?  Sometimes, when we get to the top of the slide climbing back down isn’t an option.  So how do we get brave and go down the big slide?

    The Apostle Paul wrote that he could do anything because Christ gave him the strength.  Paul knew with all confidence that Jesus came to transform the world and to give people hope.  Jesus came to give people the certainty of life eternal.  This is the promise that Jesus makes to you.  We find our bravery, not because we have nothing to lose, not because we are well trained; we find our bravery in the truth that Jesus has conquered the evil that we face.  No matter what happens, we have eternal life with him.  Nothing can take that away so we need not fear; we can be brave.  Our faith will sustain us because Jesus will not abandon us.  We can trust this truth forever.

Gracious Father, give me the courage to trust in your promises.  Give me the wisdom to trust your gracious promise.  Strengthen me that I may face all things with your courage.  Keep me mindful that your love never leaves me alone and there is nothing that will separate your loving arms form me.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret