Discouraged? Take Courage!

Feature 1 – November 2022 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Discouraged?
Take Courage!

The Need For Encouragement
We live in a fallen world. Sometimes we forget this until the discouragements and disappointments of life overwhelm us. Then we cling to the promise that “we do know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose” (Rom. 8:28 JND ). Our God and Father and our Lord Jesus Christ would not only have us cling to this wonderful promise, but also to be encouraged by Their presence in the midst of our discouragements and disappointments.

The words “be of good cheer” (KJV), “take courage” (JND) or similar words, are found eight times in the New Testament. They are found also in the Old Testament. In this article we would like to consider a few of the references, and we trust with the Lord’s help to be encouraged.

Waiting For Jehovah
Wait for Jehovah; be strong and let thy heart take courage: yea, wait for Jehovah. —Psalm 27:14

By nature we are all impatient. Whether sitting at a traffic light or waiting for the Lord to intervene in our circumstances, we don’t like to wait! This verse reminds us that whatever we are waiting for, we should be sure to wait upon Jehovah.

What does it mean to wait upon Him? First, let us say that it is not an excuse to be lazy and slothful, or to be unmotivated. That is not waiting for the Lord! Such a characteristic is simply a display of our own deceitful hearts.

To wait upon Jehovah means spending time with Him, reading His Word, and praying – all with a desire to know His thoughts and what He would teach us. While Adam waited for God to provide a helper suitable to him, the Lord God gave Adam a job to do: he was to name all the animals. So, if we’re waiting for a spouse or something else, the Lord Jesus may have other things for us in the meantime. Don’t grumble and complain when waiting. Let us wait for Him, and seek to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). No one is disappointed who truly waits for Him!

Christ Our Savior
Be of good courage, child; thy sins are forgiven. —Matthew 9:2

In Matthew 9 we read about four men who brought a man who was lame, a paralytic, to the blessed Son of God for healing. However, the Lord saw a deeper need of this man than just physical healing. He had sins that needed to be forgiven. The Lord Jesus said to him, “Be of good courage, child; thy sins are forgiven thee.” The scribes who were present said, “This man blasphemes” (v.3). Mark’s gospel tells us they were thinking that only God can forgive sins (2:6-7). They did not believe the Lord was both God and Man in one blessed person! Notice it says that the Lord saw their thoughts (Mt. 9:4). Who can see someone’s thoughts but God alone? Truly Jesus is God who sees our thoughts afar off! (see Ps. 139:2; Acts 15:8).

Before we are converted, we are troubled by our sins and the truth that God must judge sin. When we meet the Lord in faith, He says to us, too, “Be of good courage, your sins are forgiven you.” How are they forgiven? It is because “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). He “bore our sins in His body on the tree” and took the judgment due to them (1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:28). We can say, “There is then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

The Importance Of Faith
Be of good courage, daughter; thy faith has healed thee. —Matthew 9:22

While the Lord was on the way to a ruler’s house to heal the man’s daughter, a woman quietly came near and touched the hem of the Lord’s garment. She suffered from a flow of blood, a hemorrhage. Luke, the beloved physician, told us she had spent all her money on doctors but was not better; she had gotten worse (Lk. 8:43; Mk. 5:26). Now she said within herself, “If I should only touch His garment I shall be healed” (Mt. 9:21). The Lord commended her faith, in other words, her belief in His power: “Be of good courage, daughter; thy faith has healed thee.”

It is by faith in the Son of God that we begin our journey as Christians. And it is also by faith, or by believing, that we lay hold of the blessings which God our Father and the Lord Jesus have for us. We are to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). By faith we make the Word of God our own and recognize all the spiritual blessings He has given to us. Today, the Lord Jesus does not always give physical healing, although He may. However, He heals our spirits and our souls – He heals the broken-hearted (Isa. 61:1; see Lk 4:18). If you have been through a time of difficulty, stress or bereavement, He is able to heal your broken heart. Look to Him and trust in Him!

Christ In Our Difficult Circumstances
But Jesus immediately spoke to them, saying, Take courage; it is I: be not afraid. —Matthew 14:27

Matthew 14 is very interesting. It begins with Herod executing John the Baptist. Then we are given the account of the feeding of the 5,000, when the disciples didn’t know how to provide food for such a multitude. We are not sufficient for all the needs today, either. But, our Lord is sufficient for every circumstance! Notice the precious words of verse 14, for Christ “was moved with compassion about them, and healed their infirm.” He has compassion on us today too!

The disciples came to the Lord to tell Him that it was late in the day and people needed to go home or buy food. Then they acknowledged they only had five loaves of bread and two fish. Notice the Lord’s words: “Bring them here to Me” (v.18). Thinking of spiritual food for a moment, we might not have very much to share with our children or with other believers, but if we bring what we have to Him, He can multiply it to fill their hearts. It is His blessing that we need!

The Lord then compelled the disciples to go across the sea to the other side (v.22). Notice that they were crossing the sea at His direction. Sometimes people think that if we are in the will of God there will be no trials, no difficulties and no storms. Actually, the opposite is often true. In this case our Lord clearly indicated His will for them.

When the disciples were in the middle of the sea, they were “tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary” (v.24). What was the Lord doing during this time? He had gone up “into the mountain apart to pray” (v.23). This is a wonderful picture of what the Lord Jesus is doing for us now from heaven. He is interceding for us (see Heb. 7:25), His poor disciples in a storm-tossed world!

Then the Lord came to His disciples, walking on the Sea of Galilee in the storm. When Peter and the others saw Him, they were troubled and said, “It is an apparition [or ghost]. And they cried out through fear” (v.26). We can well understand their terror. However, the Lord drew near to them and gave them those wonderful words: “Take courage; it is I: be not afraid” (v.27).

What about the storms in our lives – sickness, bereavement, family troubles, workplace issues or problems among the Christians? Let us take encouragement from the fact of Christ’s mighty intercessions for us at God’s right hand (see Rom. 8:34; Heb. 4:14-16). He has not forgotten us. And, in times of special difficulty, He often makes Himself known to us, just as the Lord did to the disciples on the sea.

When Paul had to stand before the Roman emperor, all his friends had forsaken him. Still, he could say, “But the Lord stood with me, and gave me power” (2 Tim. 4:17) or “strengthened me” (KJV).

Dear reader, He loves you so much. He not only intercedes for us in our difficulties but often also comes to our side to give us strength and carry us through. We wait for that wonderful moment when the Lord Jesus will come to bring us to His Father’s house. Until then, He will uphold us through all our difficulties here. He is faithful!

Christ Is Interested In Us And Our Need
Be of good courage, rise up, He calls thee. —Mark 10:49 JND

The Lord Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for the last time before the crucifixion. What thoughts must have filled His heart, knowing He was going there to be crucified and, even more, to bear the sins of all who would believe on Him. But, was He too busy to hear the cry of someone who needed Him? Do you ever think that He is too involved in other matters to listen to you?

Blind Bartimaeus sat by the side of the road, begging. When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me” (v.47). The crowd rebuked the blind man, telling him to be quiet, but so much the more he cried out to the Lord for mercy. Did the Lord keep going and ignore the man? No, He stood still. He was on His way to finish that important work of suffering which His Father had given Him to do. Yet, at the cry of a poor, blind beggar He stood still.

Dear reader, speaking figuratively, He stands still at your cries today too. He – and the Father – hears your prayers! The Lord Jesus called Bartimaeus to Himself. He wanted this poor, blind beggar to be near to Him. It was the crowd around the Lord who told the blind man, “Be of good courage, rise up, He calls thee.” The blind man immediately went to Jesus and was healed.

We can take courage, too, today, because our prayers are heard, and He will answer! Sometimes He says “no” to our desire for healing. But more than meeting our needs, He wants us near to Himself. Let us not just draw near to Him to have our needs met, but to enjoy fellowship with Him and the Father!

The Lord Stood By Paul
But the following night the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good courage; for as thou hast testified the things concerning Me at Jerusalem, so thou must bear witness at Rome also. —Acts 23:11

The Lord knows how to comfort and encourage us. Paul had been warned against going to Jerusalem (21:4,10-12), but he persisted and arrived in the city. After meeting the local believers, within a week he was arrested by the local Jewish officials. He had opportunity to speak to the people from the stairs of the soldier’s barracks. The people reacted violently when he shared about the Lord’s appearing to him and saying, “Go, for I will send thee to the nations afar off” (22:21). The Jews were jealous of any blessing coming to the Gentiles!

The next day the Roman officer responsible for the city, called the “chiliarch” or “chief captain,” took Paul to stand before the Jewish council. In front of the leaders of the nation, he pleaded that he was a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees, and was being “judged concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead” (23:6). A tumult started among these leaders at these words, and the Roman official, fearing for Paul’s life, carried him back to the soldier’s barracks.

We can imagine that Paul had much to think about as he sat in the Roman fortress in Jerusalem. He was no longer a free man. Should he have come to Jerusalem? Sometimes we have doubts, too, about the decisions we make. Did we make the right choice?

For Paul, the following night the Lord Jesus stood by him and gave him those encouraging words: “Be of good courage; for as thou hast testified the things concerning Me at Jerusalem, so thou must bear witness at Rome also” (v.11). The Lord encouraged His servant. Although there is no record of anyone being saved during Paul’s visit to Jerusalem, the Lord said to him, “You will also bear witness of me at Rome.”

Later the apostle Paul arrived in Rome, not as a free man but as a prisoner. We are indeed told that he had the opportunity to bear witness for His Lord there. He sent greetings from Rome to the Philippians – even from Caeser’s household (Phil. 4:23)! At his final appearance before the emperor, the Lord stood with Paul and gave him power “that through me the proclamation [of the gospel] might be fully made” (2 Tim. 4:17).

We all have regrets from the past. Sometimes bad decisions we made have lifelong consequences. We do not make light of sin, particularly when we consider how much it cost our blessed Savior to put it away before a holy God. However, if we have confessed our sins to our Father (1 Jn. 1:9), let us not live in the discouragement of our failure. Instead, look to the Lord. Even though we cannot go back in our lives to change what has happened, He can lead us on to His purpose for us. That is His grace, and it should make us bow in adoration before Him.

Conclusion
Whether we are waiting for the Lord to intervene in our lives, or whether we need forgiveness and healing, or whether we are going through great trials in our circumstances, or have regrets over the past, let us lift up our voice to our God and Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ. As we saw with Bartimaeus, both our Father and the Lord will stop and listen to our cries for help. If we have to wait, there is something for us to learn. May we truly take courage in the great love wherewith we are loved (Eph. 2:4). The Lord is coming soon! Until then, may we look up and take courage.

By Kevin Quartell