Christian Devotional-Stories and Bible verses about the presence of God in our lives

Courage to Follow God

Courage to Follow God …

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power…2 Timothy 1:7 

Decorating the Christmas tree…

Courage to follow God

The 4-year-old climbs up the stool…

And carefully hangs an ornament…

He climbs down…

Steps back…

And inspects his work…

“Wow!” he says…

And runs to get another ornament.

He has a process…

Up the stool…

Hang the ornament…

Run to get another one.

He repeats the process again and again…

Repeats it exactly…

Hanging each ornament on the very same branch…

Courage to Follow God

Until…

The branch starts to sag.

“Hey, Buddy, let’s put ornaments on another branch…”

“No!”

“It’s my branch!”

The branch sags a little more…

One ornament slides off and hits the floor

Then another…

And another…

Until the branch is empty.

The 4-year-old dashes to the fallen ornaments…

Picks them up and heads back up the step stool

He rehangs one ornament on “his” branch…

He carefully places another one on the branch

Then he pauses….

And without saying a word…

Starts to hang the ornaments on other branches.

“Pretty!” I say.

“Yes!” he replies and smiles his biggest 4-year-old smile.

It’s hard to move on…

From one branch to another on the Christmas tree…

From a bad habit to a good habit…

From a relationship…

Or a job…

Even we hear God calling us…

It’s hard to leave the familiar…

Hard to leave the comfortable.

We stand in fear…

Forgetting the promise of God…

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Forgetting that no matter how much our circumstances change…

God is always the same…

“For I the Lord do not change…  Malachi 3:6

We stand in the fear of the unknown…

But God knows the future to which He call us…

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11 

The future to which He calls us in this world… and beyond…

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 1 Corinthians 2:9

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  John 14:2-3 

Courage to follow God …

What’s your story?

Has God ever given you strength to follow Him?

Was a particular Bible verse a help to you? 

Share your thoughts in comments…

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