On Wednesday, I blogged about strong women, because strength is required to follow God’s will. God sometimes asks more of us than we think we can do. But there is a battle going on today. To give up, to quit, is not an option for a woman of conviction.
Many times, women hear the idea of quitting from their children. “I don’t want to,” or “I’m tired, and it’s too hard,” or even worse, “Somebody might make fun of me.” The answer I usually gave–a little motherly guilt trip–often did the trick. “Jesus did not want to hang on the cross either, but He did it for you. So can’t you do this for me?”
Except, sometimes even mothers get tired of trying to do what they feel is right. Sometimes they, too, want to quit. And sometimes even strong women worry about what others might think. So, we need to have courage. We need to be brave. We need to remember that God is with us. Our battles may not be large ones. Maybe no one else will even see them, except us. Still, this does not mean we should back down from the Truth. We will always have help.
You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.–2 Chronicles 20:17
But this is a matter of Trust. Trust in God is often difficult, especially when one faces a politically correct crowd armed with today’s accepted lies. What can we do then, except to disarm the lies by shining out genuine Truth? This is not done, however, with meanness and deceit. We cannot lower ourselves to such tactics. It is done by showing and emulating in our personal lives the beauty and truth we believe in.
And emulation can only be done by keeping Faith.
Joan of Arc’s strength came through her Faith. On trial, before she was burned as a witch, she said this: You see there is no strength in me, and no strength in my hands. There is no strength in any of our hands great enough to win against the English. Our strength is in our faith. And if our faith is eaten away by little things that God hates, then, though there be a million of us, we should be beaten back and die.
Today the mountains we are asked to climb are high and hazardous. But we are here to climb them. We are here to live out–and shine out–God’s word in whatever situation we are in.
Translating a World on the Edge 