Many quotes, magnet pictures, and
various clippings have resided on the front and side of my refrigerator for
years. One of these seems to have been
written for this very moment in history, world history. Madeleine L’Engle, a prolific American writer
who wrote the book A Wrinkle in Time, penned this, “We have to be
braver than we think we can be because God is constantly calling us to be more
than we are” (Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, 2016).
Those words are true and stirring,
but what if we don’t feel so brave or
maybe worse, what if we feel brave but the source of this confidence is
unreliable, like an inflated sense of who we are. Thankfully, there is a source of strength and
bravery, both real and reliable. It is
in God Himself and His son, Jesus Christ. However, even before Jesus came to earth, the
Bible depicts countless brave characters and their stories of courage.
A very well known story in the Old
Testament is that of David, a young shepherd boy, who took on a very big and
scary Philistine giant who taunted the Israelite army of the living God
(1 Kings 17). Young David had confidence
to take on this giant with only a sling and a few stones because he had
experienced God’s help and protection from attacking lions and bears as he had cared
for the family’s sheep. With only one
stone and a proven faith in the name of the Lord God Almighty, he hit the towering
giant in the forehead and down he fell.
Many of the psalms were written by
David, and he honestly describes his experiences of discouragement and
temptations to be afraid. But he always
comes back to the Lord, his light and salvation, the stronghold of his
life. Psalm 27 is a wonderful illustration
of his faith and how it grew as he writes about seeking God and wanting Him to
lead and teach him. David ends the psalm
with this honest and revealing profession: “I would have lost heart, unless I
had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. Wait on the Lord; be of good
courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait I say, on the Lord!”
As people of faith, let us respond to this time and its
daunting challenges with humility and a willingness to seek God just as David
and many others have done. We can choose to draw near to God and allow Him to create
in us a brave strength, making us “more than we are.”
