Be of Good Cheer

My pastor is going through the book of Mark in Sunday School, and last week he taught on the portion of Scripture where Jesus sends His disciples into a boat and tells them to cross to the other side. A storm comes and they are fearful. In those verses you will find the little phrase spoken by Jesus before He calms the storm, "be of good cheer." So I started thinking on that little phrase...

It's used another time in Acts, when Paul is being transported on a boat as prisoner. Paul told them it wasn't a good idea to go the direction they were going, but they did anyhow. They faced a horrible storm. They were shipwrecked. Paul told them, "Be of good cheer" because the Lord told him everyone would survive.

I think that phrase is interesting in both of those situations. It's found other times in the Bible (I did a search with Bible software) but these two times it is mentioned in connection to sailing in the midst of a storm.

I thought of how in life we will face storms. Sometimes God allows them (as in the first case, when He commanded them to go over) and sometimes we create them (like the men whom Paul warned to not go) but in each instance, there is a command to be of good cheer.

In the first instance, it is given by Jesus, Himself. In the second, it is given by a man of God who'd received answers from God while praying.

This tells me something very important: when we face storms in our lives, no matter the circumstance, our attitude is important. We are commanded to "be of good cheer." Nowhere does it say, "be of good cheer...if you want to. If you feel like it. If things are going well." It just says to be of good cheer.

The Bible also tells us to "rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice." Notice it didn't say "rejoice in the Lord when you are blessed financially, when someone is healed, when God gives a blessing, when you get a good doctor's report...whatever." It doesn't say rejoice when things are going well. It says rejoice alway! That means the good and the bad.

You don't have to rejoice necessarily because something bad happens, but you should rejoice in it.

For example, when my Papa died, I was not glad he died. I was grieving and hurting. BUT I could rejoice in the storm because I knew the Lord's will was sovereign, and because he was saved.

When I have received bad reports on doctor visits, I'm not glad I'm unwell, or there's no cure, or a test came back with odd results, but I'm rejoicing in that my Father holds my life in His hands and His will is perfect.

A few years ago I heard a veteran missionary tell of when he and his wife where in Bible college. They had no money to buy their baby milk. Instead of being angry that God had allowed them to be in that situation, they got on their knees and humbly asked God to provide. A few minutes later (this is a true story) a woman knocked on their door with milk for them, saying she was driving home from the grocery store and felt God wanted her to stop and give them the milk. What if their attitude had been wrong? What if they gripped and complained? Perhaps they would have missed a blessing, or perhaps they would have received it anyway, but saddened they had missed an opportunity to trust God.

All these thoughts spoke to my heart. I am quick to worry. I always fear the worst. Over and over I am reminded that without faith, I can not please God; and whatever is not of faith is sin.

God allows me to go through things...some He has allowed in my life because it was His plan. Some...well...sadly I bring on myself. Yet always, I am to be of good cheer. Even if I don't feel like it.

Feelings...oh boy! They come, they go...and some people change feelings more than they change clothes. They're up, they're down...they're all around. Many want to tag those individuals with a "mental disorder" and excuse them. That being said, I am aware there are some people with legitimate mental issues who need pastoral counseling and maybe even medication to correct an imbalance . However, I think a lot of it is just a failure to have some self control and trust the Lord.

David faced times in the Bible where he was deeply discouraged/distressed/depressed, however the Bible also records him as going to the house of the Lord and gaining understanding, and in another place it says he encouraged himself in the Lord. He says he hoped in the Lord, or that the Lord was his strength. Yes, David got knocked down, but he didn't stay there on and on and on and on...he got up.

Feelings are not an excuse for disobedience. How many times has a parent told their child to do something and the child responded, "I don't feel like it." Um, I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, not only did I still have to do what I was told, but I got in trouble for complaining instead of obeying.

How much more so should we obey our Heavenly Father? He said be of good cheer. "But God, I don't feel like it." I can complain all I want, but that does not make my storm go away. Sometimes it makes it worse.

It's important for me to realize, my feelings may come and go. Sometimes I'm happy, sometimes I'm sad. Sometimes I'm laughing and sometimes I'm crying. My feelings come and go, but God's Word forever stands.

Another thing to notice, and this really encourages me; in the storm God allowed, and in the storm they chose, not only were they given the command to be of good cheer, but they made it to the other side.

You know, in our lives we face storms for many reasons. Sometimes God allows them to teach us or strengthen us. Sometimes they are to teach others watching us. Sometimes they are because of our disobedience; but no matter what the reason, we as Christians WILL make it to the other side! We are Heaven bound. Nothing can change that. No circumstance, no feelings, and no storm. Nothing can take away from the fact that we WILL make it to the other side!

Sometimes we face a storm, for whatever reason, and we are, well, to put it mildly, not of good cheer. (I don't know about you, but I fail a lot in that area) but even then, we will make it over to Heaven's shore. Now I do think, that sometimes because my attitude wasn't right, I may have missed God's blessings in that storm (remember, when the men disobeyed Paul in Acts, they were shipwrecked), but never do I doubt that I will make to the other side.

If we are saved, we will make it over to the other side, and that...that is a great reason why we should be of good cheer.