In 1981, Angela’s family moved from Adel, GA to North Hodge, LA. Angela was in first grade, and everyone knows that adjusting to a new school is hard enough, but then she started having less to eat for lunch each day. One afternoon, she came home from school hungry as she could be, and asked her mama why she had only packed her half a sandwich for lunch. When Mama informed her that she HAD packed her a full sandwich AND other food that morning, they realized something was afoot. With a little attention paid to the situation, they discovered that a little boy in Angela’s class was bothering her and sneaking into her lunchbox to take food from of her each day.
As good parents, they tried to do everything they could do to help her deal with the problem. They told the teacher. They told Angela to watch her lunchbox carefully. But still, tears came each day when it was time to leave for school.
That is, until….
Until one day when her big brother, Tim… who just happened to be nine years older and in tenth grade… took matters into his own hands! Tim is typically fairly reserved and relaxed. But he had had enough of his little sister being bullied. So, one morning on the way to school he told her, “You tell that little boy that your brother said that… if he bothers you today… in the morning when he sees this old yellow truck coming, he had better run and hide!”
And guess what… No more tears! Suddenly, Angela was emboldened. Suddenly, she realized there was a remedy for her situation. Suddenly, she realized that her adversary had been outsized, outsmarted and outmatched. Confidence was gained that day by her big brother’s words! Simply hearing him speak those words gave her the strength and confidence she needed that day… and each day going forward. She knew that all she had to do would be to mention to Tim that she was having a problem, and he would be there to set the situation right.
Here’s the good news… each person who gives their life to God has a big Brother in Jesus Christ. Scripture calls Him the first-born… and our older brother. And He spoke words which should give us the same confidence to overcome our enemies. He said in John 16:33 that when we have problems in life, we simply need to let Him know because He is big enough, strong enough, smart enough, and capable enough to take care of them for us. In fact, He lets us know that He has overcome this world and its problems.
Facing a challenge today that seems like you just can’t fix it? Can’t make it go away? Can’t beat it? Can’t stop it? Can’t overcome it on your own? Just take a moment to let your Big Brother know. When the enemy of your soul sees Him coming, he had better run and hide!
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