Take Heart!
Have you ever heard people give the expression, “take heart?” What does that really mean? Interestingly enough there are websites that deal with colloquial expressions like this and explain them. For example, when I looked up “take heart” several websites immediately came up which dealt with expressions like this:
Under the heading Bravery
“Take heart
Said when you want to encourage someone who is feeling defeated or is about to give up ” http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
Certainly we are living in an information age! There is no need to be in the dark concerning anything – if you want to know it, someone has wanted to know it before you – and they’ve done the work to find out about it!
Before there was the worldwide web, there was our Father, God, who also knew that “inquiring minds want to know” and more than that, “troubled hearts want answers.” He gave “holy men of God who were moved by the Holy Ghost” those words that would fit every situation we would face in this life. Some have even coined words attached to the letters of the Bible as “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth!” So when we live in a time when it seems as if we might get greatly discouraged and begin to lose heart, we can always go to our instruction guide to find out how to “take heart!” ?????? ????????
I have to confess that I grew up a very pessimistic person – one major disappointment after another left me seeing the world through a very negative lens. What I found myself doing even as an adult, was figuring out what was the worst I could imagine in a situation and determining that if I could deal with that then I would be o.k. (I know that’s kind of crazy, but that was me). So even though Jesus saved my soul, He had a lot of work to do to help me take a positive view on life because my “heart had been broken so many times.” Even today, after years of seeing His hand at work, there are still times when I find myself processing my life this way.
Being off work for the summer as a result of my surgery put me in a financial dilemma, because as much as i planned, there were things that came up to wreck my carefully orchestrated budget. I found my little savings dwindling far too quickly. What I did was say to myself, well the worst thing that I can envision is that I won’t be able to pay my house note – if that happens – I’ll just have to find someplace else to live. I even began to explore other places and I kind of felt like this:
17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!Habakkuk 3: 17-18 (NLT) ???? ???????
I know that I should be wearing the t-shirt “Drama Queen”, but I want to say to you – even though you may not be as twisted as I am in your thinking, these words will help you “take heart!” For surely, when all else fails – when there is no fruit on the vine – when the barns are empty – as Andrae Crouch so aptly put it, “just having the Lord on my side, living in a world of darkness, He came and brought me the light!”
God Bless You,
Maria
………….And God gave you favor with the mortgage company, and worked it out for your good, and the best is yet to come!!!!
I have no other choice but to believe….as Tye Tribbett sings, I get down but then there is always a song to remind me of Gods word, things work out for the good of them who love the Lord, I choose in this season of many financial challenges, to say yes to the Lord, I know His promises are true and as I heard your testimony mother and Deborahs, I am holding on for my change to come! AND YES IT WILL!
GOD IS FAITHFUL AND NEVER FAILS!
AMEN!
and amen!
This is in the bible, it is one of my favorite verses. “Stay with God, Take Heart, Don’t quit”. I found it one day when I was in a low place and I was just looking through proverbs and psalms and there it was. It has stayed with me ever since. Take Heart.