Courage to Rebuild!
Have you made any New Year’s resolutions, are you looking forward to putting 2020 behind you and getting on with life as ‘normal’? Perhaps this year it’s going to be a little more challenging than usual.
The New Year is often an opportunity to start fresh and never have we needed that more than after the year of 2020!
What a difficult year, in so many ways, it has been for so many of us! There lies the problem, that most of us are tired and in need of a good rest. Our aim for 2021 might be simply to be able to keep going in our relationships, keep going mentally or keep going financially.
If we can find that elusive thing, ‘courage’, there is an opportunity ahead of us to build something better in 2021 than what we had before.
I don’t know how you feel about heights, but for those who feel a little cautious, imagine a narrow bridge across a deep valley. You need to cross to the other side, but the bridge is long, it’s a very long way down and you do not feel safe! Somehow you need to find the courage to cross over.
If we can find that elusive thing, ‘courage’, there is an opportunity ahead of us to build something better in 2021 than what we had before. One dictionary definition of courage is: strength in the face of pain or grief. So, the first place we discover courage is in acknowledging our own pain and grief for whatever 2020 brought. We need to be willing to face our troubles and realities, however unfair they might seem.
Very few of us can do that on our own, we need help from those who love us or those professionals who understand how to get people through problems. But asking for help can be difficult! Perhaps that’s the thing we most need courage for in 2021.
As a Christian, I live with the knowledge that God promises to be with me at all times, which brings me extraordinary courage to face whatever life brings. Here is one of God’s promises I am holding onto for 2021:
“Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
With every blessing
Rev
James
Levasier
james@burphamchurch.org.uk
