by Dona Hake
As we look to ponder what we are thankful for, I want to exhort you today to thank Him for courage and strength. In this life you will have opportunity to be weary and afraid. We well know that weariness can keep us from moving forward in the will of God, and fear can turn us in the wrong direction. Fear can cripple our hearts and cause us to be double minded. Our God is the faithful one that says, “I SHALL strengthen your heart!” What a beautiful promise to rejoice and be thankful for! He has promised to keep us, strengthen our weary arms, and yet He exhorts us through this psalmist that we need to wait and take hold of courage.
Psalm 27:14(KJV)
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage,
and he shall
strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”
Many times we see small children have the hardest time to have to wait for something. We try to help them see that waiting for something that may take fifteen minutes really is not an eternity. Let us be honest though that we adults can all relate to times in which it is hard to wait for something. We have to wait in long supermarket lines, airport terminals, doctor’s waiting rooms, and the long line of traffic that seems to be backed up for miles. This kind of waiting can test our patience, and many times cause us to lose our peace. I am learning to take opportunities as these which seem to be an inconvenience to take a deep breath and just pray, think about the good things, or possibly just chat with someone in that long grocery store line.
There may be times that our faith is being tested, and the Lord is calling us to stand strong, and be of good courage even as we wait patiently upon Him. I found a few definitions of good courage that I loved and I wanted to share with you. It means to radiate warm confidence, and bold courage means living out the inner confidence within us. Today, may we hold fast to that courage that comes from the confidence that only God can bring to our souls. Let us praise Him and offer thanksgiving that we serve a God that says He shall strengthen our heart even in the waiting. I believe many times weariness sets in one’s heart simply because we are not drawing upon the strength of the Lord while purposing to stand in faith until we see the manifestation of what we are believing for.
Lord, we give thanks to You today for You are the One that has promised to strengthen our heart as we wait patiently upon You. You said you SHALL strengthen us, and we take You at Your Word. As we set our eyes on You, we thank you that a sweet confidence and courage will continue to grow within us. With thankful hearts we praise You for all that You are doing in our lives. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen!