A couple of weeks ago I went to the birthday party of a precious little girl who had just turned 1! It was so much fun. The decorations were beautiful and everything was set up perfectly. Most of the young children who came were having a great time!
I love watching children. They have a unique way of looking at things. We can learn a lot from them. A child goes at whatever he or she does 100%. They are usually all in or all out.
There was one little girl though, who was sticking very close to her mother. She was probably three or four and didn't know any of the other children. I totally understood her hesitance. I spoke to her, but she wasn't remotely interested in speaking to me.
Just a few minutes later things changed. In an attempt to startle me, the same little girl jumped in front of me and shouted "Argghhh." I jumped. She giggled and ran to the other children now ready to play.
What made the difference in such a short time? It was a mask. Someone gave all the children a mask. Having the disguise on her face allowed her to be brave enough to approach me. When all the children had on one too, it enabled her to approach the group on an even playing field. It only took a few minutes and she was fine even without the disguise.
It may be a little strange, but for some reason I thought of Philippians 4:13. Most of us know that verse by heart. You may have quoted it before I could even type it. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It is among the favorite verses of many Christians.
With the mask on, that sweet little girl had the courage and strength to join in the party. Being in Christ should give us the strength to do all things good! We don't have to be afraid. With the love of Christ in our hearts we can do what we need to do -- even if it pushes us out of our comfort zone -- even if it means doing something we've never done before.
Jesus would not want us to live our lives in fear. Paul encourages Timothy "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). Wow! How great does that sound? God didn't give us fear - He gave us power and love and a sound mind. With these three things we are able to conquer our fear.
Can we speak up against bullies at school or at work? Do we have enough courage to step out and say 'What you are doing is wrong'? Do we tell our child's coach she will miss or be late for a Wednesday night practice because she will be in Bible study?
It does take strength to say no - but through Christ we can have that courage. However, sometimes 'doing all things' means saying yes to something good rather than no to something bad. It might be asking someone to attend worship with us.
Someone might ask us to give the devotional at the next ladies' meeting. Or we might want to comfort a sister in Christ who just lost a loved one, but we are afraid because we don't know what to say. (By the way, most of the time just being there is what is important.)
In any of these situations and so many more - if what we are doing is for Christ -- to bring someone closer to Him -- to give glory to Him -- He WILL give us the strength to do it. Through His love and power we really can do all things.
It is not always easy - I know that. This world is tough and it seems nowadays there is opposition to Christianity at every turn. Yet, we have the potential to do so much good for our God if we can only get past the fear of doing so!
I leave you with two beautiful passages.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation,
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life,
of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1
"Now to Him who is able to exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations for ever and ever. Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21
Christ above all things,
Robin
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