Be strong and take heart

I had to laugh out loud at God's unbelievably impeccable timing giving us the exact word of encouragement we need at the precise moment we need it. When everything in me is screaming, 'But, Lord I can't do it, I just CAN'T, I want to obey You, but it's too hard', He steps in and says, 'Be strong and take heart'.

I've been thinking about which Bible character I'd like to put myself in the skin of. Initially I was thinking about the well-known characters that we see God doing great things through (David, Moses, Esther), but then I thought about the bleeding woman. I think I'd like to get in her skin - to have enough faith in Jesus, to reach out in desperation and touch his cloak, to be healed, and to be able to tell others of Jesus' amazing power to heal. I love that in the account of this story in Matthew, Jesus tells the bleeding woman to 'take heart', that her faith has healed her.

abandon