Day 006: Courage

"And do not be afraid of intimidation when it comes upon you, nor of the attack of the ungodly when it comes at you; for the Lord will be over all your ways, and He will plant your feet firmly, that you may not be shaken."  Proverbs 3:28-29

With today being the celebration of the Epiphany, I can only think that this relates so strongly to the occasion of the magi coming to see Jesus.  They had to go their way through land at night, it seems. Now, I feel scared enough when I have to drive at night and only my headlights are guiding me.  I can't even imagine how terrifying it must have been for these people to be going at night with nothing more than a bright star among many other stars.  It was sheer faith that kept them going in order to bring their gifts to Jesus and then to return to their home land.

But where does this courage come from, for I don't feel it all the time.  Even in this section of Proverbs, the writer tells his reader to remember wisdom at all times.  The magi are considered to be wise men in some translations.  According to the Middle Liddell Ancient Greek Dictionary, magi in ancient times were priests or wise men from Persia who were experts at interpreting dreams.  So it seems that they had such great wisdom that they couldn't care less about intimidation.

Then again, I find myself thinking that there is a consolation, and that's taking the time to listen to God's voice.  God speaks to us constantly by different means, but we need to be receptive to it.  Think about how the radio works: there are many broadcasting towers releasing information in the form of sound all around us, but it is only when we use a device that is tuned to a certain frequency that we can hear what is going on.  With older radios, one has to adjust a dial carefully enough so as not to receive just feedback.

We should approach prayer and meditation and reading in this same way.  I don't know if the magi were Jews, but if they were, they were probably well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures enough to have such encouragement swirling around in their heads when they traveled.  They were, though, probably skilled enough to know when God was speaking to them in dreams, and they probably had the skills to be silent and listen to God.  So, I find that reading the Bible and listening to what God is trying to tell me through my reading is one way of making sure to have wisdom always in my heart.  If I can just tune myself into more and more spiritual frequencies, I'm certain I will be able to experience God in that many ways.