Doctors considered surgery for three different medical issues I experienced. Plus, I faced a four-hour daunting nerve test. Fears and dark images assailed me. Was I a mighty woman of valor?
“I know you’ll do fine, Lauri,” a wise friend said.
She did not promise it would be easy. Instead, she expressed confidence in my ability to cope well, no matter what.
Having always viewed myself as the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, I wondered what caused her to believe in me. I concluded she knew my faith—and the God in whom I put that faith.
Her words reminded me of Gideon. Cowering in a secret threshing spot and hiding from the Midianites, Gideon was greeted by God’s angel.
Did Gideon have to suppress laughter? He knew he had done nothing to demonstrate valor. But God knew that if Gideon would show faith and obey His instructions, he could be used to win an important victory over those powerful Midianites and later become his nation’s leader.
Gideon pulled himself up out of that hiding place and accomplished both, despite weak faith at first. God believed in Gideon—in what he could become. And He believes in us, too.
As she left the abbey to work for the von Trapp family, Maria, in The Sound of Music, sang, “I have confidence in confidence alone . . . I have confidence in me!”
The lilting Richard Rodgers song worked for a character in a movie, but not so much in real life. Healthy self-confidence is fine, but placing our confidence in God gives believers bravery.
During those troublesome weeks, my enemy was not a foreboding army but anxiety. However, God stomped on my fear and brought me through. When it came time for that painful medical test, I thought of Gideon.
None of the three surgeries proved necessary. That outcome was wonderful. But even more incredible was that God challenged my faith in Him. I had grown stronger.
What are some ways you can lean on God when you feel weak? Together, you and He will do valiantly.
(photo courtesy of pixabay and ThePixelman)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
A Wisconsin native, Lauri Lemke Thompson appreciates living with her husband in the lovely Ozark mountains in Branson, Missouri. She is active in Christian Women’s Connection (Stonecroft) and the Ozarks Chapter of the American Christian Writers. Her two books, Hitting Pause and Pressing Forward, are collections of her columns, articles, and devotions. Her bimonthly column appears in the Branson Globe newspaper.