“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29-30 NLT)

Four chapters into Acts and it seems that safety was no longer the disciples main concern. They had stopped hiding in upper rooms and they taken their message to the streets. It had become expensive to preach. They’d just spent the night in jail and then appeared for an interrogation before the councilor rulers and elders that the morning. When they were released, it seems they realized that this level of persecution would likely continue, perhaps even increase. Their prayerful response astounds us. They did not pray for protection, but instead sought the Lord for more power.

Why?

Safe was no longer their main aim. What was the point of a ‘safe’ life when their eyes had been opened to eternity? Safe is not where we stretch and grow. Safe is not a place of learning and safe does not develop compassion for a hurting world. Safe only further insulates is and dims our desire for the Divine. Pain is the place that demands provision, the place where we desperately desire the fullness of God.

In the face of persecution, my hope is that we will pray as the disciples prayed; for boldness. I think we grow that prayer practice now, in the midst of more minor hardships. Have we the guts to plead for strength instead of safe passage? For more opportunity to share our testimony? For greater anointing and power in our own sticky situations?

Beloved, I submit to you that we are not clothed in power to hide in the security of safe lives. We are clothed in power to be witnesses!

Maybe this is why we don’t see so many signs and wonders? Maybe this is why we aren’t yet doing even greater things? Perhaps it’s because we are busy and insulated, praying prayers of protection and safekeeping. Maybe God would rather we face hard things all the while asking for MORE. More presence, more power, more opportunity to die to self and in the same breath, make Him famous!

We look to Jesus in His final free moments. He knew full-well what He was about to endure. How did He handle it?

“He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”” (Matthew 26:39 NLT)

Yet. Jesus’ desire for suffering to end did not eclipse His desire to see God’s will go forward. Wow. Let that be our prayer as well. 

Lord, we want to be done praying safe prayers. We realize that we live in a broken, fallen world where bad things happen. We also realize that You can redeem bad things for Your glory. We long to participate in that redemptive process, as our Savior modeled for us. We know that You meet us in pain and change us if we’ll only call out to You in our dark hours. Clothe us in boldness. Give us supernatural strength to live in a way that brings You honor, always. Amen.

“After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”” (John 3:2 NLT)

It would seem that Nicodemus, and maybe some other religious leaders, were quietly considering Jesus after office hours. His flawless teaching, His signs and wonders were haunting them, tugging at the string of belief in their hearts.

Belief in the dark must grow into belief in broad daylight. Quietly professing Jesus as Lord in the night is not the same as publicly proclaiming Him in the day, we need boldness in our witness. Jesus Himself says it best:

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26 NLT)

If we are bold enough to proclaim Him, we must proclaim Him consistently night and day. Faith in Christ isn’t a lightweight jacket that we can slough on and off at our convenience. No, profession of Christ is a part of us, an inside-out change that permeates every bit of our being. We confess Christ and we are consecrated to His use; set aside for Him and nothing less. When we consider what Jesus has endured to redeem us, the least we can do is live consistent in response.

Inconsistency creates hypocrisy, the most fatal disease found in the body of Christ. Hypocrisy pushes away potential believers and wounds deeply the people within the walls of God’s house.

“Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.” (Titus 1:16 NLT)

The worst part of hypocrisy is that we hide the truth about ourselves amidst it. We think we know God, but our lives are not lived in a way that honors Him. That is worse than not knowing of Him at all.

“And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:3-6 NLT)

Lord, please make us consistent in our profession of and commitment to You. Touch every place of our lives with Your grace. Change us. Melt away our inconsistencies as we seek to honor You in all our moments. Amen.

“Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me?” (Psalms 49:5 NLT)

Fear is a funny thing. It can overtake us quickly, sometimes by complete surprise. Other times it sneaks up slow in the night and threatens to suffocate us in the dark. Feeling is our weakest link when it comes to fear.

If I can slow down and think about fear rationally, rather than surrendering to onslaught of fear irrationally, I can remember Ann Voskamp’s wise and true words.

“All fear is the notion that God’s love ends.”

When my mind is allowed opportunity to outshout my emotion, I can consider the Father’s past performance record and promises. Fear flies out the window when examined in the strong light of God’s character. 

But if I don’t perform this exam, if I lack the stamina or sense, fear will whip me into a frenzy and freeze me altogether. Even worse, fear might prove adequate motivation for sin, for compromise, or for cop out altogether.

What are we afraid of, truly?

Loss. Interruption. Suffering. Financial ruin. Broken relationship. Destruction. Disfigurement. Pain. Lack of control. Dishealth. Death.

The fear of all these things can paralyze or push us away from intimacy with God and with others. The fear of these things can keep us from fully participating in the Great Commission and living out the Great Commandment. We wind up simply existing, living so far below His best design for our lives.

If we’ll only look up in the face of fear. If we’ll lift our eyes beyond the small circumstances of today, we’ll learn to see our stuff in the light of eternity. We’ll acknowledge and eventually grow into the certainty that Christ has fully addressed every fear.

“But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave.” (Psalms 49:15 NLT)

In the end, the lover of God is redeemed, death’s hold has laxed, the believer is gathered from the grave and brought to God Himself. What shall we fear? If all fear is the notion that God’s love ends, then to trust is to place full confidence in His unfailing love forever. I believe we can succeed at that.

Lord, help us identify fear on the front end and immediately bring it to You, before it gets a foothold in our souls. Let us measure it against Your promises, which never fail. Remind us again of Your past victories; personally and publicly. Bolster our faith as we consider Your track record. Make us certain that all fear is the misguided notion that You could stop loving. Let that thought bolster our confidence in You, yet again. Amen.