Take Courage

It's funny when things come full circle.  You know, those moments when it dawns on you that the lesson you're learning is something that was spoken into you, over you, or that you yourself shared months, sometimes even years before... and then that same lesson comes back around and you sit and think, "huh...I needed that reminder."  This week has been a full circle kind of week.  Let me backtrack...

So one year ago at this exact time, I was in the midst of packing up my bags and, quite literally, my life and getting ready to make the move to Thailand.  For how long?  I honestly didn't really know.  I'm still not sure, but that's beside the point.  It was very much a season where the words I was clinging onto were "Take Courage".  Things were about to change and had already changed in a big way.  I was no longer working at my job of 11 years at my home church.  I was no longer living in my apartment and had sold or given away most of my "stuff".  And I was getting ready to relocate halfway across the globe.  If that's not a change, I'm not sure what is!  Yet over and through it all, the phrase I was holding onto was "Take Courage".  I knew God was very much in the midst of it all.  In fact, He'd been the one orchestrating it.  He redirected my focus from Africa to Thailand.  He led me into the conversations that confirmed this was the place He wanted me to be.  He gave me such an incredible peace about putting an end date on my time of working at my home church.  He did it all, time and time again, each step of the way.  So there I was doing my best to take courage.

Fast forward to about 6 months into my time here, we had a visiting team who had come to serve alongside us.  The Sunday this team was with us was my Sunday to share at church.  We have a speaking rotation among the Outpour Staff with our Sunday church service we do at The Refuge, and it just so happened that I was up.  Praying into the time, I sensed the Lord wanting me to share on the story of Peter in Matthew 14, you know, the one where Jesus calls him out of the boat to walk on water.  What struck me most about that particular passage is what the disciples knew Jesus by.  There in verse 27 was the phrase, the one Jesus had been speaking into my life 6 months prior... But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

In case the story is unfamiliar to you, the disciples had been with Jesus as He was speaking to the crowds that had gathered and after He had finished speaking, He sent the disciples ahead of Him in a boat across the lake.  The story goes on to say the boat was a considerable distance from land and was being pushed along by the wind and the waves.  So Jesus, being Jesus, went walking out onto the water to go to where the disciples were.  Totally normal thing to do.  And His disciples looked out across the water and saw someone walking on top of it toward them.  Beginning to freak out, they cried out in fear saying "it's a ghost!"  And then verse 27 happens.  And what struck me is that Jesus never said, "Take courage, it's me, Jesus!"  He simply said, "Take courage! It is I."  No other explanation was needed because if there is one thing the disciples associated with Jesus, one thing they knew to be true of Him, it was "take courage".  How many times had they been with Jesus up to that point and heard Him talk about "do not be afraid," "have faith," "stand firm", "take heart", "do not worry", "blessed are you who do not fall away on account of me"?  Jesus was all about courage!  He'd spoken that into their lives over and over, so when they heard this "ghost" out on the water calling out to them "Take Courage", they didn't have to question whether it was Jesus!

I shared from that story on that particular morning sensing it was a word specifically for that team, yet knowing it was a reminder I needed as well as I continued to embrace each day here... "take courage, Kristy, take courage."

Well fast forward once again to this week, and specifically today, the song that I've caught myself singing under my breath as I've been running errands throughout town on my motorbike is "Take Courage" by Bethel.

Slow down, take time
Breath in He said
He'd reveal what's to come
The thoughts in His mind
Always higher than mine
He'll reveal all to come

Take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He's in the waiting, He's in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He's never failing, He's never failing

Sing praise my soul
Find strength in joy
Let His Words lead you on
Do not forget
His great faithfulness
He'll finish all He's begun

So take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He's in the waiting, He's in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He's never failing, He's never failing

I didn't plan on that being the song in my head all day today, in fact, it caught me off guard when I realized I was singing it.  And then came that full circle moment of all those times this past year the Lord has been speaking those words to me "Take Courage".

This has been a different season in ministry here.  Things are shifting and changing in good ways and in some "growing pains" kind of ways, but Jesus is in it all.  There are often circumstances we feel ill-equipped to handle and most times we have more questions than we have answers, yet Jesus sees it all, knows it all better than we ever could.  And today I've been reminded of how He is calling out "Take Courage".

I can be an excellent worrier sometimes.  Not that I'm one who spends my time crying out "the sky is falling!"  But I can often times get caught up in worrying over the details of "how are you gonna do this God?"  Or "what can I do or do I need to do to see this accomplished?"  And a million other questions similar to those.  And today, I sense the Lord simply saying once again, "take courage, Kristy, I'm here."  I don't have to know the "how".  I don't have to have a perfect formula or flawless plan - because those things don't exist.  Plans fail, formulas change, and circumstances beyond our control are inevitable, but Jesus doesn't fail and He doesn't change and as He calls us to take courage we can trust Him and hold fast to His Word.