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Courage in the Midst of Distress

God is good and life is difficult. The life of faith is lived between these two realities.
Many times in our own lives, we reflect the hard truth of that statement in whatever distressful situation we may find ourselves. Whether it is the loss of a loved one and the grief is overwhelming, children or grandchildren gone astray, broken relationships, illness and the dreaded news that it is terminal, a financial earthquake that rattles our being into shambles, or our recruitment into a spiritual battle, we need courage. We need hope. We need God.

Sitting at His Feet

One sentence in particular, stood out to me – ‘Mary, who also sat at the Jesus’ feet and heard His word.’

I wondered, ‘Why was this specifically mentioned in Luke’s narrative, and is this mentioned of anyone else?’ I discovered it is. In Acts 22:3 Paul writes, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city (Jerusalem) at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law…”  Gamaliel was a Pharisee who taught the law and was highly respected by all the Jewish people.

Leap of Death

You raise your eyebrows in apprehension as a man with a parachute strapped to his back takes a running leap. He pulls the ripcord and his canopy opens displaying its many colorful stripes. On each stripe you notice the name of a good work the man apparently had accomplished in his lifetime.