April 4, 2023

Mark 13:9-13  (HCSB)
9 "But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to sanhedrins, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of Me, as a witness to them. 10 And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 So when they arrest you and hand you over, don't worry beforehand what you will say. On the contrary, whatever is given to you in that hour-say it. For it isn't you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Then brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and put them to death. 13 And you will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.

Sarah Ricciardi
This may seem like the worst pep talk ever, yet there’s this nugget in verse eleven. So much of what we fear comes from fearing how we will handle a situation. Here Jesus is saying, don’t worry about it, don’t try to come up with a plan, an iron-clad argument, just trust. Walk in relationship with Me so closely that you hear the Holy Spirit giving you the words to say. In my role as a coach, there’s something called the “holy hush”—that time when neither party is talking. It can be tempting to fill that space, to say something clever or to say something mind blowing. Yet that Holy Hush gives God room to work through the power of the Holy Spirit in the innermost places of our mind and emotion. The result? Time and time again I have witnessed God moving a person, speaking a precious Truth over her heart which impacts her life far greater than any “Sarah wisdom” possibly could.