Take It, It's Yours

Imagine a store filled with everything you could possibly need. Not flashy items that can be used to feel good in the moment, but things that provide strength, comfort, and peace. Courage for a difficult road you are on. Provision to sustain you for the journey ahead. Everything you need, and things you may not even know you need are available to you. Would you be willing to take what you need? Or would you look around to see who was watching as you chose because that would mean they would know of your struggles? Or would you walk around confused because deep down you don’t even know where to begin?

Or perhaps taking from the shelves is too scary because it means we would actually have to use what we select and that forces us to acknowledge something we have tried not to face. Taking hold of courage means no longer being able to avoid the tough conversations. Choosing peace means loosening my grip on the worries I have carried for so long. Choosing forgiveness means I cannot keep rehearsing the conflict. Choosing hope means risking being disappointed again. Sometimes the hardest part is not finding what we need, but honestly facing the place within us that needs it.

Daniel is told, “take courage and be courageous.” At first glance, the words can sound repetitive, but maybe there is something important hidden there. Daniel was not being asked to manufacture courage from within himself. He was being invited to receive what was being offered to him. Before he could be courageous, he had to take courage. Before he could stand strengthened, he had to receive the strength being offered.

That small distinction makes a difference. We ask God for peace while still clinging tightly to our worry and then wonder why we don’t feel peaceful. We ask for courage while hoping we will not have to face what frightens us and then get frustrated when conflict continues. We ask for strength while refusing to admit how tired we are and how much we are trying to do everything ourselves. But what if God is not waiting for us to become brave, peaceful, or strong on our own? What if He is already holding out what we need and gently saying, “Take it, it’s yours”?

Maybe the invitation is not to walk through life pretending we are not afraid, weary, anxious, or unsure. Maybe the invitation is to stop long enough to name what is true and receive what God has already made available. Daniel felt strengthened after the words were spoken to him. Not because he had solved everything in front of him, but because he received what he needed for the moment he was in. And perhaps that is where we begin too; not by ransacking the shelves, not by pretending we have no need, but by reaching for what has already been given and believing it was meant for us all along.