Do you realize that God has invited you to come boldly before His throne, and stand face to face with Him – particularly in times of need?
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)
In the previous post we saw that God wraps us in His grace (with kindness that we don’t deserve) and His mercy (His tender love and compassion) just when we need it.
But boldness isn’t something we can conjure up on our own. True boldness only comes when we know who we are in God. It’s when I realise the extent of what Jesus has done for me, and then live in the reality that I am now a child of God.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-7 (NKJV)
Our boldness rests on this truth – that our merciful, loving, gracious and kind God has brought us close to Himself. And that we can boldly come before His marvelous throne and be wrapped in His grace and mercy through every storm we face.
God’s mercy, love, grace and kindness is absolutely mind-boggling! It’s so different to how the world thinks and reasons, that it’s often hard to wrap our head around all that God has provided.
Don’t throw away your boldness
The writer of Hebrews has one more important thing to say about boldness.
Therefore do not throw away your boldness, which has great reward.
Hebrews 10:35 (Translation by Joy Hooker)
This verse is often translated “Therefore do not throw away your confidence…”. But this is the same word translated “boldness” in Hebrews 4:16.
If the writer of Hebrews is warning us NOT to throw away our boldness, that means that we can throw it away or lose our grasp of it – particularly as we go through difficulties.
Our boldness to stand before God’s throne of grace can become eroded by doubt. Our awareness of our true standing as a child of God can be stolen by fear. And we allow our boldness to be thrown away and lost.
If we throw away our boldness or allow it to slip through our fingers and be lost, in effect we are walking away from God’s mercy and grace. And we therefore lose the reward or the payment that comes from boldly coming to God’s throne of grace – which is the grace to help in time of need. Instead, we find ourselves battling to keep our head above water. We’re no longer standing before God’s throne of grace, but something else has our attention. We may even have put up walls of fear, doubt, anxiety or reliance on our own resources.
There will be no loss
When the Apostle Paul faced a massive storm that threatened to sink the ship he was on, he encouraged his companions, saying
“And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.”
Acts 27:22 (NKJV, emphasis added)
The word “loss” has to do with “throwing away” or “losing” something. In Paul’s case, God promised that none of their lives would be thrown away, or lost during the massive storm at sea. In Hebrews 10:35, the writer tells us not to be tempted to throw away, or lose, our boldness. [Click HERE for a word-picture video I’ve created that draws together Hebrews 4:16 and 10:35]
You and I are certainly going to face difficulties in the days ahead. But one thing we cannot let go of is our boldness to come before God’s throne of grace. That’s where we find the help we really need. And that help is God’s loving, kind and compassionate arms around us, keeping us absolutely secure in Him. Yes, His strength and enabling is always available for you, right when you need it the most.
