She Walks in Confidence

Be Our Arm Every Morning!

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My husband recently approached me and asked me to think about something we could fast from as a couple to give us a more focused attention on God. Oh boy…. It’s funny how immediately 4 or 5 things popped into my head that I thought would be great for him to fast from, but couldn’t seem to come up with anything that my self-righteous heart could identify as “distractions” to my “thriving” Christian walk.

Well…. It only took me about….once… to sincerely ask the Lord to show me something that would be a sacrifice to give up to get a fresh glimpse of my need for Him and my reliance on His strength and sustenance. Yep… you guessed it. Coffee.

The sign in the above picture is actually from my kitchen. It’s a cute little saying and kind of gives me a warm feeling, but is somewhat of a misconception that I live with. I actually believe that I need coffee to wake me up in the mornings. I’ve told myself that it’s simply a pleasure I look forward to and rather harmless, I could stop and it probably won’t affect me much.

Actually, it is going to be rather hard to give up this “simple little pleasure” for a few weeks, and truthfully, I am quite the mama bear if I don’t have a hot mug in my hands shortly after emerging from bed. (Ask my kids and husband) My favorite coffee cup and probably true-to-life motto says “I love you more than coffee, just not always before.” The best mornings, in fact, are the ones where I set the coffee to brew at a certain time and the rich, decadent aroma permeating the house wakes me up rather than my alarm. So how does enjoying (or not) something like coffee bring us to walking in confidence?

I’ve been meditating on this prayer portion from Isaiah 33,“Be our arm every morning.” What does this exactly mean? What is this prayer actually asking? If you look up the “arm of the Lord” in most places it is mentioned in Scripture, you will find that the arm of the Lord is a symbolic place of deliverance, refuge, strength, and guidance for His people. In these five words of a prayer, we find several things being stated or asked. We hear a prayer of hope and purpose being placed in God Almighty. We hear a continual recognition that our sufficiency is in Jesus. We hear a consistent leaning into God’s strength and power to fight our battles/enemies for us. We hear a steadfast confidence that God will protect us from temptation and sin.

When Jesus is our Savior and Friend, we actually don’t need Him plus something else (aka coffee), we only need Him. Just Him! Jesus IS waiting for us every morning. Is there something you need His protection from? Perhaps you need His unlimited strength as you face an impossible situation? Or maybe you need to feel His arms surround you to affirm His unconditional love for you? Arise, daughter of the King, and realize that His arm is ready to lean into when we cannot stand ourselves, or outstretched to protect us from the temptation that we will encounter, or ready to lead us when we can’t take another step into an unknown future. His arms are there, and they are offered faithfully every morning! He is the one that gives us hope to face a new day because He loves us unconditionally. He’s the one that gives us confidence to walk forward into the future, because He is the Eternal God (Deut. 33:27) and is already there.

So.. wake up tomorrow, and instead of grabbing a cup of coffee or whatever you need besides Him, take His arm that is outstretched and waiting. You are able to walk in confidence because our Savior Jesus Christ is walking right beside you.