A Courageous Heart
[Note: There is a large section in the middle of Linda’s teaching that was not recorded. We apologize, and encourage you to read the manuscript below to access the missing audio teaching.]
Years ago, when our first two sons were little boys, our family lived out of the country and we made frequent, long international flights. For some reason, quite suddenly I developed a fear of flying. I started praying weeks ahead of any flight and as the departure date grew near my fear increased and my prayers became more and more specific. I remember one flight as I was walking down the entrance into the plane, my heart was racing, my mind frantic, hands sweating, and I was praying for every nut and bolt in the plane. As I was walking in my fear it was as if God put his arms around me and said in a very clear voice, “Linda, be still, and know that I am God.” My Lord met me right there in the midst of my fear, calmed my anxious spirit, and gave me the courage to move forward. He has been doing that now for decades in my life. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.
Andrea has laid out for our gatherings this year a plan to dig into one passage of Scripture – 1 Peter 3:1-6. If you’ve missed any of the gatherings, I’d encourage you to go to the Cities Women’s Blog and read or listen to the first 3 presentations.
Before we get to our specific focus for today, let’s step back and take a wide angle look at 1 Peter in general and the full context of chapter 3:1-6. Peter is writing to believers and he addresses believers as a group. He addresses the body of Christ in full and encourages us (as believers in Christ) by explaining that we are a “royal priesthood” and a “holy nation”.
He then turns to different groups of folks within this holy nation and addresses specific issues of each group. In chapter 3, verses 1-6 Peter speaks directly to women. So this passage is of considerable interest to us and, of course, particularly relevant.
THE PASSAGE: 1 Peter 3:1-6
As a summary of this year’s gatherings, let’s read together 1 Peter 3:1-6.
Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing your wear – but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
I’ll give you a word picture of this passage that might be helpful in keeping it in your mind’s eye. On your handout go to the verses printed out for you and find the term HOLY WOMEN and circle it. “Holy women” are the subject of this passage. Keep in mind what we said earlier. Peter has just said that as believers we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood. So he calls the believing women, holy women, because they are a part of the holy nation.
Next is the word ADORN. To adorn or adorning is the action that is taking place. Take your pencils and underline the word “adorn” or “adorning”. You will find it 3 times. The word “adorn” means to make more pleasing, attractive, or impressive. We often use the word in relation to a Christmas tree. Today it might be more common to say we are “decorating” the tree, but it times past people spoke of “adorning” their Christmas tree.
Here’s how I like to think of it. This is the word picture. Not a perfect picture, but hopefully helpful. Think of a Christmas tree. When you bring the tree home and set it up, it normally looks pretty good. But when we decorate it, adorn it, with special ornaments and lights it becomes beautiful. You can hardly take your eyes off. It draws you toward it. People want to gather around it. You want to sit by it. You want to stay up late after everyone has gone to bed and it’s quiet and enjoy the peacefulness of your beautiful Christmas tree.
Now that we have a picture of a holy woman, let’s turn to our specific topic today - the Courageous Heart. Our challenge is to be like Sarah, a holy woman who is not afraid of anything that is frightening.
THE PROBLEM: Fear
We have a problem. We could say, we have a two-fold problem. Our problem is REAL. We’re not making this up. The Bible informs us of this a problem (of course, stemming from sin), and that this problem is common throughout the ages. The problem is fear. Think about each of these instances in the Bible:
The man in the Garden of Eden told God he was afraid (Gen. 3:10).
The psalmist of Psalm 56 said, “When I am afraid I put my trust in you” (Ps. 56:3)
Before telling Mary that she (a virgin) was to be the mother of the promised Messiah, Gabriel, the angel, told Mary not to be afraid (Lk. 1:30).
Jesus told his disciples right before his arrest not to be afraid (Jn 14:27).
An angel told the women at the tomb after the Resurrection, “Do not be afraid” (Mt. 28:4).
Later, Jesus, Himself, as the Risen Lord, personally told these same women not to be afraid (Mt. 28:10).
And when John encountered Jesus in Revelation, Jesus reached out to him and told him to fear not (Rev. 1:17).
This is just a small smattering of verses to illustrate that fear is addressed in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Personally, I find this to be comforting. To think that my God, who searches hearts, who knows me better than I know myself, knows that fear is a real thing – a common experience because I am a human being. Just naming a problem can be the first step toward finding a solution. And God’s Word names the problem.
I said this is a two-fold problem, because of what Peter tells us about Sarah. He says she does not fear anything that is frightening. Yes, fear is real. And so are frightening things. We are not going to make a list of frightening things, because that list is endless. Let’s just say, frightening things are real. And fear is real.
We know enough about fear to know that it works its way out by creating emotions in us. Again, how comforting to know that God knows we have emotions and the Bible puts these feelings into words. The Psalms are particularly helpful here. Psalm 42:5 & 11 and Psalm 43:5 repeat the same exact phrase - “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?’ Emotions. The psalmist is struggling with his emotions. He doesn’t understand why he feels as he does. Why, he asks. Why does he feel this way?
I’ve had my own struggles with inner turmoil. Feeling downcast. Like my fear of flying. Or like when I carried our 3rd little boy for 21 weeks and he didn’t survive, and a month later my husband had major surgery, and a few weeks later our oldest son who was in kindergarten was desperately ill with pneumonia and in the hospital for a week and home for several weeks, and another little boy who needed lots of attention and we were in Brazil (our 7th year with more years to come)…….and I took a tumble into darkness. But, why? I understand that there are hard and frightening things. And yet I love Jesus, so why do I feel like this?
I will tell you that now after walking with the Lord for over 51 years, fears and inner turmoil are not as frequent nor as dramatic as they used to be for me. But they are not gone. There are still times when I just can’t get a handle on my inner emotions.
Recently, I had a short season of inner turmoil and this time I was determined to figure this out once and for all. I began to do a lot of soul searching, praying, reading books and articles about anxiety and fear. But all this determined study and focused attention did nothing to help me in my struggle. I tried hard to figure out what was going on and what to do about it. And then one day, as my husband and I were reading our daily devotional together, there was the answer. As clear as a bell. Just a simple, uncomplicated (and powerfully effective) answer.
Oh, when I’m faithful to stay in the Word, whether I feel like it or not, God speaks to me – to my heart; to my deepest needs. Yes, my God does search hearts, including my heart. I have always found God to be kind and understanding. He is compassionate, not critical; clear in his solutions, not offering complicated instructions.
THE SOLUTION: Hope
Here’s the answer I found to the problem of fear and the accompanying emotions. Look back Psalms 42 and 43.
Psalm 42:5 – Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:11 – Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil win me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 43:5 – Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Three times, the same words repeated. The same solution to our problem. But in case we think this is just an Old Testament solution to an Old Testament problem, look back at our passage from Peter. How did Peter describe the holy women that he is holding up as models for us? What is the star on top of the tree?
Hope in God!
I think I get it! I have a problem. It’s a real problem. It’s a common problem. I don’t like it and I need to know what to do about it. Solution: Hope in God.
Problem – anxiety, Hope in God
Problem – downcast, Hope in God
Problem – turmoil, Hope in God
Problem – fear, Hope in God
So we’ve identified our problem. We have our solution. Now we must ask, how do we do this? How do I hope God?
First, let’s focus on “hope”. I think we can safely say that hope (Christian hope, hope in God) doesn’t come naturally for most of us. Just as the Psalmist of 42 &43 struggled before he arrived at the declaration (discovery?) that he needed to hope in God. We, too, come to this hope after some struggle of the soul.
John Piper in a sermon titled “What is Hope?”, says that often when we use the term “hope” we are expressing uncertainty. He says, “Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future – it expects it to happen. And it not only expects it to happen – it is confident that it will happen. There is a moral certainty that the good we expect and desire will be done.”
For us, “hope” is a certainty. It may not be an exact synonym, but I like to think of it as trust. Hope is God. Trust in God. My hope, my certainty, my expectations, my trust is in God. But then we must go a step further. If we are putting this hope/trust in God, then what believe about God is critical.
We must understand who God is. The Bible tells us that He is powerful, wise, gentle and safe. He is sovereign over all things. He is always at work in my life. And flowing through all that God does and all that He is LOVE. 1 John 4:8 tells us God is love. Do you believe this?
God is lovingly sovereign.
God is lovingly just.
God is lovingly wise.
God is lovingly powerful.
And He love me! He loves you. He is not a harsh task master. He is my loving Father. He holds me close in his everlasting arms. He will not let go of me.
It is important to note that almost every time we read in the Bible to “fear not” or “don’t be anxious”, these exhortations are lovingly coupled with either the comfort of God’s presence, a specific promise. One example of this would be Jeremiah 1:8, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declare the LORD.” Psalms 42 and 43 follow a similar pattern. Hope in God. Then they give the light at the end of the tunnel (I will praise again) as well as assurance of who God is (my salvation, my God). This is very personal.
This is our God. The God of the Bible. The God we know through Jesus Christ. At it is this God in whom we trust. Because he is who he says he is, we can say to ourselves and to each other “Hope in God”. This is not a flippant phrase. This is certainty.
And this is the God that Sarah, Abraham’s wife put her hope in.
A Biblical Example: Sarah
We probably know more about Sarah than any other woman in the Bible. Her story is told throughout Genesis (from chapter 11-23). She is mentioned in Isaiah, Romans, Hebrews 11, and, of course, she is the woman Peter chose to be the example for us of a holy woman.
Fear can make us passive and lethargic or in the extreme, paralyze us so we are unable to do or say anything. Sarah was not passive, nor paralyzed. It important to remember that she wasn’t perfect either and she wasn’t married to a perfect man. Sarah made her share of mistakes, and Abraham made some big mistakes, which affected her.
What’s encouraging about Sarah is that God saw her heart and knew that in her heart she was, ultimately, placing her hope in him. And it is for this that she is remembered, honored and included in the hall of fame of the faithful.
And the same is true for us……..we won’t get it all right all the time – but when we are in turmoil, downcast, anxious, and afraid in the face of things that are frightening, when we are tempted to be lethargic or are paralyzed by our fear – when we experience these things and we put our hope and trust in our God, we will be Sarah’s daughters. We will be like her. We will keep moving. Keep making decisions. Keep loving. Keep on keeping on. And God will honor us. Our lives will have lasting, eternal value. Because, God knows our hearts, too. He does not deal with us according to our sins….just like he dealt with Sarah. (Psalm 103).
He knows your heart. He loves you. You can trust him.
Practical Application: Shiphrah, Puah, and Jochebed
There are many other examples in Scripture of strong, courageous women. Abigail, Ruth, Esther, Deborah, Rahab, Mary, Mary & Martha – the Bible tells us about of all these women and there is so much we can learn from each one of them. We know these women were courageous because of what they did. In each case, they took action in the face of frightening things. We can make a case for the courageous heart with each of these women, but for our practical purpose today as we wrap- up, we will focus on three special women: Shiphrah Puah, and Jochebed.
You can read their story in Exodus, chapter 1 and I encourage you do to that in light of our topic today. In short, Shiphrah and Puah were Hebrew midwives and Jochedbed was Moses’ mother. These were holy women of the past. The Bible tells us that Shiphrah and Puah “feared God”. In fact, they feared God more than they feared their government. They were supposed to let every Hebrew baby boy they delivered die. They did not do this! And we’re told, “God delt well with the midwives.”
We also know that Moses’ mother feared and trusted God. We know this for two reasons: her actions/conduct and the fact that she is listed in the Hall of Fame of Faith of Hebrews 11, along with Sarah. She was a woman of faith, a holy woman, a fearless woman. In the face of grave danger, Jochebed did the best she could with what she had and God used it. Oh, my, did he use it!
She had a baby boy and she hid him for 3 months—about as long as you can hid a baby, right? She made a basket. She used the things in her environment…..reeds and tar. After 3 months, Jochebed put her beautiful baby boy in that basket and put the basket in the river.
This takes my breath away. This is the action of a fearless woman. A woman who we know from Scripture put her faith, her trust, in God. How do we know that she trusted God? She took her hands off that basket! Yes, she did.
Over the years I have kept a little basket on my bookshelf to remind me of Jochebed and to help me overcome my fears and anxiety. I keep a notepad and pencil near the basket, and when I have fears and or anxiety over some situation or person I write that name or situation on the paper, fold it, put it in the basket and take my hands off.
When I worry and fret about what’s in the basket, I have this physical reminder that yes, like Jochebed, like Shiphrah and Puah, like Sarah, I have things I can do and I must do them, but I also must leave the outcome to my loving and sovereign Lord.
Again, we can take our examples only so far. We must remember that we don’t put our basket (our cares) in the Nile River, which represented death for the babies. We put our basket into the hands of the one who gives Living Water. And then we breathlessly stand and watch to see what God is going to do.
As we close, keep in mind one more thing from Peter. At the end of his letter he brings us full circle. We can cast our anxieties on God, he says, because God cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).
FINAL WORD
We must remember that we live in a sin-filled world. This is nothing new. And because we live in this sinful world, there are a lot of frightening things. Lots of things that can go wrong. Many ways our dreams can get shattered. Unknowns that scare us. The possibilities of tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword. This is Romans 8. Yes, there are many frightening things, but not one of these things will separate you from the love of Christ. Hang on to that. Sometimes, the battle gets rough. Sometimes, the struggle gets the best of us. But we must not give up. We must preach to ourselves truth from the Word of God.
You are a believer, a holy woman. You belong to Jesus. You are not paralyzed. You are alive to Christ and the Spirit of God lives in you. Set your mind on this. When you came to Christ you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” This is your hope. Your loving Father. He hears the cries of your heart. He responds to you. He is always with you. You can trust him.
Put your hope in him!