"Lighting the Fire"
Jotting – Week 37

GO!

Go with Boldness

How’s your faith walk these days? Do you struggle to make it through each day of work only to go home to more demands, confusion or even loneliness? Where do you turn for companionship, for comfort, for joy, for peace? Is the Word of God interwoven into the fabric of your days? As you meet challenges, do Bible verses come to mind that bring direction and focus? Are you reminded in quiet ways of the Spirit’s prodding to resist temptation? Have you gentled your responses to people, built up a faithful reputation, gone out of your way to bring kindness, goodness, and love to those with whom you come into contact?

Do you wonder how you can make it through another day, let alone witness to your faith or give an answer to those who question it? “Go and make disciples” in reality means “as you are going.” It can be overwhelming when it’s difficult to get yourself going, let alone spark someone else’s fire.

If your life is going smoothly with only a few ripples and bumps, you are still aware that things in this country of ours are spinning out of control. Newspapers and TV news are filled with stories about people who “lose it” and do irreparable damage to themselves and to people they love or have loved. The nation as a whole seems to be moving farther and farther away from the beliefs and foundations upon which it was built. Those moving into this country may hold different values, believe in different gods–or no gods at all. Children in public schools are being told untruths about their rights to pray and express their faith through art and other means. Greed and lust and murder and mayhem seem to be the norm. And we wonder where it will all end.

In 2 Chronicles 15 there appears an account of the prophet Azariah upon whom the Spirit of God comes. Azariah goes out to meet King Asa of Judah with a challenge:

“‘Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!’” (2 Chronicles 15:2-7; emphasis added)
Read what the king does:

“And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of [Azariah son of] Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the LORD that was before the vestibule of the LORD” (v. 8). Asa made other reforms and called the people together. “Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul” (v. 12). They were serious about this! “Then they took an oath before the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams' horns. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around” (vv. 14-15).

God knows our hearts and our inner lives. He knows we need Him as we meet everyday demands. He has given us the resources through His Word to find His heart, to know His desires for us, to strengthen our purposes, to keep our light shining for Him. As we are going about our day, working in our home or at our job, meeting obligations and deadlines and claims on our time, responding to questions or holding discussions, we may very well be in contact with people who need to hear the Good News of salvation found only in Jesus Christ. When the Word of God fills us, when we have studied it and read it and listened to the Spirit speaking through it, we can indeed be bold and confident as we give an answer to all who ask. “Since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech” (2 Corinthians 3:12). “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

God knows the needs this nation has–to return to Him, to seek Him and His will, to discover the God of heaven and earth and to turn away from doing evil. As Christians, we have the opportunity–and the obligation– to speak the truth in love, to pray for the turning of this nation to its Creator and Redeemer, to love others through service to them. Are we sometimes weak? Yes. Are we sometimes timid? Yes. Are we sometimes unprepared? Yes. But we have resources that make us strong and bold and prepared.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:20-31).

My prayer for you: Lord, grant these servants of Yours boldness of heart and of speech. Let them through their words and actions proclaim Your goodness, Your Word, Your love through Jesus Christ our Lord. Be a power in their lives, Lord, that they can’t help but speak of You to all they meet. Pour out Your Spirit upon them so they are filled with love for those who don’t know You. Give them joy in proclaiming You and keep them praying for this nation. In the strong name of Jesus. Amen.

Pray: Father, we pray for this nation of ours. We have wandered so far in our own desires, so far from Your Commandments, so far from the love You would bestow upon us. Forgive us for the sake of Your Son Jesus. Lord, where there is hardness of heart, bring the showers of Your grace. Lord, where there is ignorance, let us proclaim the knowledge of Your saving love. Lord, where there is defiance and rebellion, bring about repentance and grief over sin. Break down Satan’s power and his stronghold over people, on our schools and newspapers and TV stations, on our government and in our workplaces. Show us what we can do for the sake of Your Kingdom, Lord, in the name Jesus, our Savior. Amen.