When I was a little boy, I sent off for a “Batman and Robin” button. A few weeks later, it arrived in the mail. I became the proud owner of a button with Batman and Robin’s picture on it, and a “Charter Member of the Batman and Robin Society.” What the presence of that button on my pajama shirt did for me was give me courage to walk down a dark hallway to my bedroom at night, knowing that no “monsters” could hurt me so long as I had that button with me.

Silly, isn’t it? But it worked. Though that button was powerless to help me, its presence empowered me to do what I was otherwise afraid to do.

Now, let me tell you something that isn’t silly. Jesus said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Today, I find peace and strength, not through the imaginary strength that comes through the presence of a “Batman and Robin” button, but through the strength that comes through the real and living presence of Jesus Christ. To know the Lord is really present with me, gives me courage and strength to go on. What about you?

MercEmail, A Weekly Devotional by Steve Higginbotham
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