THE COURAGE TO STAND TALL

Our "gyming day" is fast approaching and all intending contestants are doubling up with their preparations. Gyming day is an annual local event whereby weight lifters and boxers around my locality meet to display and compete. It used to be a day to remember especially for the kids around; it's more like another "festival".

Tensions are high already within the hearts of the contesters, they all wish to get a medal at any category they contest. Many also fear they may breakdown as a result of losing (again). In my quest to know more about their fears, it became clear to me that these able bodied men are been defeated every year mainly by the noise of the " crowd".

Hearing the crowd roar and shout either in ecstasy or disapproval kills these "big guy" even more than the opponents they are to face. This results to their apparent "below par" performance of which most of them are always sad about.

But i was fortunate to meet one of the winners of last year and i immediately affirmed the fact that the difference between winners and losers can be found in the way they talk. He's so excited and happy with his training conditions. Speaking about his experience, he said he had to pay "deaf ears" to the crowd and focus on the game. That was his secret. Sounds easy, but...it actually is!

We often times fear the "crowd" in our daily activities. We prefer to join them than to stand for what we know. We fear being shunned, questioned, interrogated and lonely. Our conscience do condemn our actions at times, but we'd prefer to make peace with the tyranny of the roaring crowd. This leaves us disappointed and confused over our life. We know what to do but lack the courage to stand for it.

The disciples also feared the worst when Jesus said He was going to leave them. They are so used to Jesus that all they wanted was to die with Him by their side. But their time of been "spoon fed" and "over pampered" had to stop.

Jesus noticed their fears and grief over of his intending departure, but he made them understand the heavenly benefits they tend to receive from His exit:

JN 16:5-11
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."

The promise of the "Advocate" was intended to encourage and strengthen the disciples to "stand tall" to their faith against all odds, and sure it did.

source

Paul and Silas in Philippi displayed a great deal of heroism against the crowd and magistrates as found in the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostles refused to join the crowd in the face of persecution. They preferred to stand for Christ who they believed in. And consequently, they stood tall with the help of the "advocate":

ACTS 16:22-34
The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,

and the magistrates had them stripped
and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
After inflicting many blows on them,
they threw them into prison
and instructed the jailer to guard them securely.
When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell
and secured their feet to a stake.

About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,
there was suddenly such a severe earthquake
that the foundations of the jail shook;
all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose.
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,
thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,
"Do no harm to yourself; we are all here."
He asked for a light and rushed in and,
trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and said,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
and you and your household will be saved."
So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds;
then he and all his family were baptized at once.
He brought them up into his house and provided a meal

Doing great works or achieving great results hugely demands our courage to forge ahead in times of troubles. We must always learn also to call on God when we are at the cross roads to send us an "advocate".

But many atimes we wallow in fear of what the crowd may say. We'd stop going to church and attending Christian functions because our friends feel it's not trending; we'd prefer to keep mute than to go against corruption or other abnormalities in our various organisation for fear of being left out; we'd go against our conscience and collect bribes to please our colleagues. Worst still, we do regret our actions every time we derail from God's set laws printed in our hearts.

Like the apostles we need to stand tall henceforth. We need the Holy Spirit to guide and see us through it all. Jesus has given us directions on how to deal with the crowd, all we need is God's grace to stand tall to be seen, heard and followed.

Let us continually decide to go on our kneels in prayers to God for the gift of the advocate to increase our courage in times of struggles. This will aid our quest to stand tall and face the crowd shouting us off our success.

May God continue to hear us, Amen.

Thanks for reading.

I'm @tomfreeman!