I’ve been reading Beth Moore‘s Whispers of Hope devotional in my morning quiet time. On Day 18 we talked (I like to think of Beth as my close, personal Bible study buddy) about the certainty of our faith, and knowing, truly knowing that what we believe is grounded on eyewitness fact. We read through a passage in 1 John, and Beth talked about how after His resurrection, Christ appeared to the twelve apostles and 500 witnesses. She writes,
By the time Christ gathered with His disciples to commission them, He had erased all doubt. He said, “And you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Eyewitnesses. They watched their risen Savior ascend into the heavens, then lived the rest of their days on the passionate certainty of what they had seen…and touched…. Not one of them withheld a single moment of their lives from Christ. The same twelve men who once struggles with pride, disbelief, and inability were transformed into unstoppable powerhouses, undaunted by imprisonment, persecution, and the threat of death.
Now, granted, I live a pretty easy life. I face little (if any) persecution for my faith, I’ve certainly never been imprisoned for it, and have never, ever had my life threatened because of it. But what about the other things that distract me from living the full life God wants for me? For being the best witness to others of His love? What could it be like to live a life fully and completely undaunted?
Google defines undaunted as “not intimidated or discouraged by difficulty, danger, or disappointment.” My kind of difficulty and disappointment is usually very petty. Not getting the material things I want, a store being out my favorite brand, exhaustion from my frail, earthly body. Sometimes it revolves around relationships…kids that fight and don’t obey, disagreements with my husband, or having words with friends.
It’s devotional days like this that remind me just how good I have it, and how complacent I’ve become in my walk. The way I see it, I’m pretty dang lucky that I’ve never face true persecution like Jesus’ apostles, or I would probably crumble like a sandcastle!
So where do I go from here? How do I move past my selfish, lazy Christian life that resembles more of a worldly life, and get to that place of being fully and utterly undaunted? Honestly, I have no idea! But I now recognize how far off track I’ve gotten, and that I’m hopelessly lost without Christ’s help. I can’t do anything in my own power. Neither could the apostles! They became transformed and undaunted by seeing and fellowshipping with Christ and hearing His words. We can do that, too, by staying in constant fellowship with Him through prayer and reading His word. The rest will come, and this is all He asks of us now.
Leave a Reply