Tharseo is a Greek word that we chose to be our team name at training camp. At first the word didn’t really mean anything to me; we had to pick a name and that’s all that it was. But, lately God has been bringing me back to it over and over again. There have been countless times this past month where He has clearly spelled the word out in my head and told me to dive deeper into what it means. He told me that He picked the name for me and that He knew I would need it. Tharseo has gone from being just a team name to being something that I cling on to for dear life.
Tharseo is the Greek word for courage. It literally means to take courage, to be brave, to be of good cheer, to be confident or of good comfort. After researching it, I came to learn that Jesus used the word many times when talking to people, all in times when comfort was needed. He used it when he was walking on water towards the disciples when they were in the midst of a storm and were terrified. He used it countless times after people came to him in pain and in search for healing. He came to people in the midst of their fear and in the midst of their pain, looked them straight in the eyes and lifted them out with just with one word.
I can’t even tell you how many times I have needed those words from Him lately. There have been so many times where pain and uncertainty have punched me in the gut and knocked the air out of me. There have been so many moments where things have made zero sense, where I feel like I’m in the midst of a storm completely terrified, and He seems to be nowhere near. There have been times when I’ve had to grieve the loss of dreams held dear and be okay with the fact that I have no idea what is going to happen moving forward.
But the thing is, He knew. Every single one of these things He knew in advance. He knew it otherwise He wouldn’t have given the word to someone on my team to be our name. He knew it otherwise He wouldn’t have said it to me so many times and taken me deeper into what it actually means. If He didn’t know, if He didn’t care, and if He didn’t want to be there with the ones His heart beats for, then why would He have walked all the way across the freaking water because He knew they were scared and needed nothing other than Him? It makes no sense to me that His goodness is the way that it is. It makes no sense that He would do all of that for me.
The thing is, He knows that this life takes courage. He knows that this life comes with pain and He knows that it comes with uncertainty. He knows that darkness lurks around every single corner, coaxing us to come and make our home with it. He knows the big stuff and He knows the little stuff. He knows the heartaches that knock me out of my seat, altering my life completely; but He knows the small, everyday fear and uncertainty of being surprised with having to teach a class to kids who don’t speak English for an hour all by myself. He’s not surprised by anything, but He also knows that we are surprised by much. He knows that choosing courage, bravery and good cheer is the exact sword that will fight against all that comes against us.
To me, the most breathtaking part of it is that even though waves, wind and water do actually crash against me, none of that can even begin to stop Him from walking right on top of it and right through it to get to me. No matter what goes on around me, no matter what I feel or don’t feel, see or don’t see, His top priority will always be that we are together through it all. That is the unshakeable fact that gives me all the courage, bravery, good cheer, confidence and footing that I could ever need.
Even with that, courage, bravery, good cheer and confidence are only tools. They are only tools that come from first looking at the Father, the Lover and the Friend in the face. They only come from knowing that those piercing eyes that you see looking back at you are actually filled with more love, pursuit, and worth than anything else in the entire world. Tharseo can only come to those that choose to be one with the One who matters most.
