"Don't be afraid for I am with you. Don't be discouraged for I AM your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."
Isaiah 41:10
This verse is on my refrigerator door. I think it's the New Living Translation. I'm not sure that means it's the most literally accurate. But I loved the "don't be discouraged" part. I've memorized this verse. Heard it how many times? In how many different translations? And it usually says "Do not be dismayed" or "Do not anxiously look about you." Which are things I need to remember not to do. But this day, I needed to be reminded not to be discouraged.
Then yesterday when I went to open the refrigerator door in the middle of 15 other things that were going on, God grabbed my attention with the last part of the verse:
"I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."
A picture flashed into my mind of an Olympic athlete, a state-championship team, the Super-Bowl champions. Take your pick.
What do the victors hold up in their hands?
The trophy.
And I haven't been able to get the image out of my brain since.
I always thought of God helping me out by holding me up above the discouraging, dismaying things around me.
I got it wrong.
He's holding me up as the trophy of his victory.
He's displaying me (and every other believer) to the world, the universe, every created thing saying "Look at me! I won! And here's the reward! She's the proof of My victory!" He's celebrating His glory by displaying me.
I'm almost speechless at the thought of it.
That I would be the trophy - the award of victory - to a holy God.
Stunning, jaw-dropping grace.
Isaiah 41:10
This verse is on my refrigerator door. I think it's the New Living Translation. I'm not sure that means it's the most literally accurate. But I loved the "don't be discouraged" part. I've memorized this verse. Heard it how many times? In how many different translations? And it usually says "Do not be dismayed" or "Do not anxiously look about you." Which are things I need to remember not to do. But this day, I needed to be reminded not to be discouraged.
Then yesterday when I went to open the refrigerator door in the middle of 15 other things that were going on, God grabbed my attention with the last part of the verse:
"I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."
A picture flashed into my mind of an Olympic athlete, a state-championship team, the Super-Bowl champions. Take your pick.
What do the victors hold up in their hands?
The trophy.
And I haven't been able to get the image out of my brain since.
I always thought of God helping me out by holding me up above the discouraging, dismaying things around me.
I got it wrong.
He's holding me up as the trophy of his victory.
He's displaying me (and every other believer) to the world, the universe, every created thing saying "Look at me! I won! And here's the reward! She's the proof of My victory!" He's celebrating His glory by displaying me.
I'm almost speechless at the thought of it.
That I would be the trophy - the award of victory - to a holy God.
Stunning, jaw-dropping grace.
