The Plumbline

The wicked are afraid of everything, but those who live right are as  brave  as lions. (Proverbs 28:1 ERV) What gets you to the place of taking action in your life? Sometimes it is much easier to just be sidelined, not in the thick of things, letting things swirl out of control without us being right in the middle of those things, isn't it? We don't actually want to be all that "brave" or "into" the actions because there is a little bit of risk beyond what we may really want to take if we choose action over being sidelined. There are really a couple of things that place us on the sidelines - one is the choice to not even put forth the effort so we aren't asked to "play" in the game - the other is that we aren't quite ready because we haven't quite learned what is needed to keep us safe if we were to be in the thick of the action. Another may be something we didn't control, but which left us kind of "laid up" or "lam...

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid." (Franklin P. Jones) I have to take issue with Mr. Jones on this one, because when we hold all of our fear internally so no one become the wiser we are struggling, we can count on at least one other individual knowing we are afraid - God! You may not realize this, but I have often asked others why it is God needs us to admit we are afraid, hurting, feeling lonely, etc., when he knows our thoughts and hearts already. I believe it may just be more for us than it is for him - because we have this tendency to "mask over" our true "state" or "condition" of mind and heart. When we are finally willing to admit it to him, we might be at the place we will admit it to ourselves! No creature can hide from God: God sees all. Everyone and everything is exposed, opened for His inspection; and He’s the One we will have to explain ourselves to. (Hebrews 4:13 VOICE) If it is impossible to really...