A Promise For A Wayfarer
As we seek to help people connect the dots between the vision that God has laid on our hearts and the practical expressions of what this ministry will look like, we want to share some of the passages that have given life to The Brave Way Home. God’s Word truly is living and active and shaping our lives. It has defined and sharpened a vision for discipleship that goes beyond a program or an event. It has led us deeper...forward...and it has fostered our heart to help others on the Way set before us.
Our hope and heart is to come alongside, call and equip people, marriages, families, churches, communities, everyone to a deeper faith and a firmer grip on Jesus. As we pursue ministry opportunities of preaching, teaching, speaking, leading, mentoring, coaching and consulting...it all has its roots in the truths of Scripture...
Isaiah 41:10
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
This verse has been given to me multiple times in multiple ways. A friend of a friend gave me a bracelet with this verse. Card after card, message after message was marked with these truths. Voice after tearful voice spoke these words over me. And I wrote this verse out on my wall...in a place where I would see it day after day, moment after moment. I knew there was powerful truth there, but I could not understand it. It made no sense to me. I was afraid. I was so discouraged. I felt that God had allowed me to be ground to dust, pressed down in the mud so far that I could never get up. No strength. No victory. Just this crushing grief...this devastation...this agony. My Calla was in Heaven and I was here. I could not get to her no matter how I tried, and the pain of that separation, the enormity of my loss was more than I could bear. I would look at those words on my wall and cry to Jesus for help...lament that those words didn’t feel true for me...they couldn’t be true for me.
And then in one distinct moment after I read those familiar words again, I erupted in despair and anger at my God, “So WHAT?! What difference does that make? My daughter is still not with me and You didn’t change that...You’re still NOT changing that. You’re my God and You are with me...but what good is that when this is still my life?”
I didn’t have the energy to be sorry, and I didn’t try to take the words back...but Jesus didn’t back away, He leaned in. He came closer. He was with me, even in my anger and in my sorrow and in my pain. He held me.
And the truth is, if I’m unwilling to continue the journey, to keep pressing on to the promises ahead, Isaiah 41:10 makes no difference. If all I will do is lie in the dirt and give up...if I embrace despair and reject His presence and strength and help, then this promise really is no good at all to me.
This promise is not a quick fix, a magic spell, an instant solution...no, this promise is for a wayfarer. This is strength to endure, faith to sustain, hope to pull me forward. This is fuel for the long, difficult journey, even when the terrain is treacherous. And it is true...even for me and even for you.
This world is not home. Don’t settle for its brokenness. Don’t get cozy here and forget that we were made for more. Don’t give up. Even when you have no strength to move, you can accept Jesus’ strength. Even when He leads through the valley of the shadow of death, keep walking, don’t set up camp in the darkness...keep going. Lean on His help, follow Him forward, trust in His goodness and His power. The voice that whispers “you’re too broken...just stay down and stop.” is a liar that crouches at your door and desires to devour you. Fix your eyes on Jesus who will hold you up and set your heart on Heaven where He is leading you.
Press on to reach the end of the race and receive the Heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Phil 3:14) This earthly life is not forever...it is just for now, and there truly is great joy ahead when all the promises we have in Jesus are finally and fully realized. The Heavenly prize I run toward includes the beautiful reunion I long for with my Calla, the resurrection of her sweet little body and mine too, the restoration of this broken, sorrowful earth and heavens, rest for weary travelers, and the reward for trusting Jesus - the salvation of our souls and a perfect life with Him forever.
And the journey there is bolstered by Jesus’ own presence, power and support.
I may not know what you are walking through, but I am convinced that this truth is for everyone in every season.
Choose to be brave. Choose to keep walking forward...keep your eyes on the Heavenly prize. And whisper this truth over step after determined step: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right arm.”
