Devotion: Mary
Mary
Please read the scripture from the weekend: John 19:25-27
Courage is a conscious act, a considered decision. The soldier who scoops up his wounded comrade without a second thought while running from enemy gunfire is brave. But it is the soldier who has made it to safety and then returns to the battlefield to help his brother in arms who is courageous. He has assessed the risk, counted the cost, and decided fear will not keep him from trying to save this man’s life.
When she stands at the foot of the cross, Mary has been assessing and counting the cost for years. She remembers Simeon’s words to her in the temple when Jesus was just a few weeks old: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul, too.” (Luke 2:34-35) She may have prayed even then, “God, give me courage when I will need it.”
As Jesus began his public ministry — preaching a message of a loving and forgiving God that would anger both the Pharisees and Israel’s Roman occupiers — she would have prayed for his safety and asked God for strength to face the day when sorrow would pierce her soul. She fears she will experience the worst loss, the death of her child. After Jesus is condemned to an agonizing death, Mary goes to the cross. She does not let fear that she, too, could be harmed keep her from being there with him, loving him to the end. God has given her the courage she has asked for.
So, too, with us. We may fear speaking up against injustice or hateful words or taking action to end suffering or even voicing a different opinion to a person with a strong will. God will give us the courage to face hard situations if we ask. And he will not send us alone into the battlefields of our lives: Jesus comes with us, giving us strength to do good in the world.
God, when my fears keep me from doing what is good and needed, give me courage, give me strength, give me Jesus. Amen.
Written by Cheryl Stubbendieck
Cheryl Stubbendieck is a member of Sheridan’s Devotion Writing Team. She leads the Wednesday morning Women’s Bible Study and she and her husband Jim are the editors of a quarterly journal about vintage side-by-side shotguns. Their family includes their son Aaron and his wife Chaitra and grandson, Theo, of Houston, TX, and their son Reed of Madison, WI.