Be confident and courageous

THERE’S really no reason to be too worried and anxious

when we encounter some difficulty in our life. In fact, we have every

reason to be confident and at peace, focused on what we are supposed

to do. And that’s because we are always in God’s hands.

            Whatever situation we may be in, we can be sure that God

will always provide for what is truly needed by us, and it may not be

what we want. We just have to trust him completely for he knows better

than we do, and what we want may not be what we need. It may not even

be what is good for us.

            The story of Abraham’s complete trust in God is a great

lesson for us. (Gen 22,1-19) When God tested him by asking him to

offer his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice, he readily agreed. We

already know how the story ended—a happy ending it was—and what great

lesson he learned from that test.

            Abraham named the place where he was supposed to sacrifice

his son, “Yahweh-yireh” (the Lord provides), for he was provided in

the last minute with a ram instead of his son for the sacrifice.

            God always knows what to do in any situation we may find

ourselves in. He may allow some evil to come to us, an evil that can

do us no harm unless we let it, but God knows how to draw good from

evil.

            Ours is simply to trust God completely, and out of that

trust, we should always feel confident and courageous to do what we

are supposed to do. We should not waste our time lamenting and feeling

like a victim, or wallowing in doubts, passivity and self-pity.

            We have to remove ourselves from that state mentioned by

St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians: “children tossed to and fro

and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men,

by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.” (4,14) We have to move. There

are a lot of things to do.

            Yes, there will always be challenges, problems,

difficulties that humanly speaking may be impossible for us to tackle.

But as long as we have trust in God, we can sincerely echo St. Paul’s

words: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13)

These words have been verified to be true in the lives of all the

saints, especially the martyrs.

            It’s important that we be confident and at peace always,

because that would put us in the proper condition to do the things we

are supposed to do. It will make us bold and courageous, fruitful and

productive.

            It is a confidence that is not presumptuous. It goes

together with prudence, discretion and tact. It is meek and humble,

not pompous, arrogant and vain. It reassures and inspires people. It

would make us credible in our witnessing to Christ’s saving message.

            It is a confidence that is both in heaven and on earth. It

happily blends eternity and time. It is not simply theoretical. It is

also realistic and practical.

            Let’s strive to be always confident and courageous!