Take Heart, Brothers & Sisters, All is Well
How do I know all is well? It is a deep, inner knowing that God has got this. God has got us. I’m back at home and this sunrise on Tuesday assured me “all is well”. I could almost hear these words audibly “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27) All is well!
It’s a brand new day with potential and possibilities! It’s a brand new day to posture ourselves with a can-do-anything, all-is-well mindset. We can purposely leave the remains of yesterday behind with an optimistic “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13) attitude for this new day. When we slip on our houseshoes or athletic shoes or even go barefoot and step out on our back porch, our patio or our sidewalk, we can inhale this new day with faith and determination. If we listen closely, we’ll hear those words again that give us new hope for this brand new day. “All is well.”
In real time, we may feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders, but take heart — all is well. If God be OUR Almighty God, our supreme authority and our all-knowing, all loving, omnicient One, then we must make the decision to believe it and trust Him.
We are in good company. The Bible goes to great lengths to show us that all the people on its pages were ordinary, average “Joes”. Yes, let’s look at two Joes: 1) Joseph, the youngest of ornery, jealous brothers and the beloved son of his father, Jacob. This “Joe” took heart. In spite of a pit and a prison, he succeeded to a palace when he became the Governor of the land and ultimately took care of his entire family. 2) Another “Joe” — Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus who could have divorced his pregnant fiancee, but instead, took heart, and stayed to love and care for Mary and Jesus. So many other characters in the Bible who trusted even though they were drenched in fear and hopelessness.
Many others in the Bible took heart and conquered because God filled them up with His Holy Spirit and breathed life into their dreams and their plans, and God, through ordinary people who did ordinary things, made miracles happen that changed the world for good. And, WE are the Bible people of today in these times and the same Holy Spirit breathes life into our dreams and our hopes and our plans so that we too will accomplish great things..
Take heart, brothers and sisters! All is well. Breathe deeply. Do your part. Fight the good fight. Offer grace. Love. Work for justice. Move with mercy. Be kind. Keep your focus. Keep moving forward. Keep looking up. Keep offering up every little thing in your ordinary life to the God of good things and miracles and hope.