"The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action." (Daniel)
It's so difficult for me to adopt an active, leaderlike mindset...even when situations urgently require such an attitude. I have been gifted naturally, in some sense, with the "meek quiet submissive" spirit, and it's difficult for me to recognize that a life of righteous integrity often requires zealous and even aggressive pursuit of what is right. This presbyterian culture in which I have been steeped for my entire life makes it all too easy for me to "cop out" and hide behind my feminine submissiveness (aka, passivity?) when people call on me to take a stand or express an opinion. Being an instinctive pleaser only compounds the difficulty of such situations for me. More and more, however, as I read the Bible and books like Captivating and Lost Women of the Bible, God is revealing to me how important it is for me to actively hound down the truth, and then, firmly rooted in it, live out its implications for my life in whatever capacity God requires...even if that means that I must confront a friend or speak up in a heated conversation. One of the most important lessons that I have learned this past semester is that humility does not excluse righteous passion--and that a spirit of gentleness can all too quickly transform into a spirit of fear. God has liberated me to know Him and walk in His ways, and He sees me and loves me. That knowledge insulates my fearful heart from its nightmares (both real and imagined), while at the same time widening it to embrace a calling that is much greater and more beautiful than anything it has yet imagined.
I'm looking forward to standing firm and taking action in the coming days, weeks, and years.
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