A few years ago when I heard of President Obama’s book title “The Audacity of Hope,” I found it very intriguing. I haven’t read the book but the title caught my attention.
Fast forward a few years and here I am thinking of the audacity of persistent faith. Why must one have persistent faith? Why should believers have such confident hope in God? Why must our faith be bold?
Why not? If you don’t place your complete hope in God, who will you trust?
Okay, the literal meaning of audacity is: “boldness or daring, especially with confident or arrogant disregard for personal safety.”
Hang on a minute! Do people really have this kind of bold faith? Yes!!
Four men who were suffering from a dreaded skin disease were outside the gates of Samaria, and they said to each other, “Why should we wait here until we die? It’s no use going into the city, because we would starve to death in there; but if we stay here, we’ll die also.
So let’s go to the Syrian camp; the worst they can do is kill us, but maybe they will spare our lives.” So, as it began to get dark, they went to the Syrian camp, but when they reached it, no one was there. The Lord had made the Syrians hear what sounded like the advance of a large army with horses and chariots, and the Syrians thought that the king of Israel had hired Hittite and Egyptian kings and their armies to attack them.
So that evening the Syrians had fled for their lives, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys, and leaving the camp just as it was. – 2 kings 7:3-7 GNT
These four men were suffering. The decision to enter the Syrian camp was a very bold move and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t an easy one either! They had daring faith.
If they didn’t do anything about their situation, they faced the risk of dying. If they did something about their situation, they faced the risk of dying too! They made a bold move and the Lord miraculously cleared the way.
What do you need to do that you still haven’t done because of that dreadful word: fear?
When you have such audacious faith (very confident and daring faith), nothing can stop you because you know and you know that God will come through for you.
Even when the odds are against you, you don’t apply the brakes, you keep going. You may encounter potholes along the way, speed bumps now and again, detours but you keep pressing, pushing, moving, expecting.
God did not create you to be ordinary or complacent. You need to step up, step out and step into your purpose. And when you do this, expect some resistance in many forms but this is what you do: activate your audacious and persistent faith. Do not quit.
Image courtesy of stocksnap
Very helpful piece
Thank you!