COURAGE & STRENGTH
Isaiah 41:10
Don’t be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
For many years I was an awkward, timid person. I was not strong, I was not outgoing and I didn’t participate in activities unless I was made to. By my Junior year of high school I started coming out of my shell, I started being me. I was in the marching band; I actually carried the school banner and was one of the first people you saw when we came marching down the street. I wasn’t in the back hiding behind everyone else anymore. I sang in choir competitions and was in the school production of Irene. I had a job waiting tables; I was thriving and growing and enjoying my life. I even had a steady boyfriend.
Joshua 1:9 This is my command-be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
A year later I was in college and was so far out of my comfort zone that I actually failed. I was not strong or courageous. I had let my parents down and I had let myself down. But, I guess that God knew that this was not the path I needed to be on, because I was offered an office job as an executive assistant and I loved it. I flourished and my strengths grew as did my confidence.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, said the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
I think that there are times in all of our lives that we need to be reminded that God is with us, giving us strength and courage. Have you been struggling with addiction and needed God’s courage and strength to help you fight it; to walk away from from the temptation to use again. To refuse that drink that someone is offering you. To say “no thank you” when the waitress offers you the dessert menu, because you know that piece of chocolate cake would taste so good but it would raise your blood sugar or ruin the diet you’ve been working so hard maintain, so that you could lose that weight you have gained? Are you struggling with your family life or your faith? It is during these times when you turn to prayer and say “God, I need a little help here. I am strong, but I am stronger with your guidance. Help me in my strengths, so that I might do better.”
Are you stuck in a job that you just don’t like and it’s bringing you down; you’re not working at your highest potential? Maybe it’s the people you work with or the hours you have to work or maybe it’s just the job itself. If there were another opportunity out there, would you have the courage to go for it? Do you take that next step and see what that other job has to offer? Courage and strength... do you have the courage to walk away from one job and the strength to accept a different one?
Years ago, my husband came from work one day and said that very thing. I have an opportunity, but do I walk away from a job I’ve had for 20 years and take that risk? Do I have the courage to do this? My strengths are many because I know how to do my job, but there is no guarantee. But, as we all know, there are no guarantees in life. It would be a new startup business with nothing buy his work experience and his soon to be partner’s sales experience to get it going. We talked about the pros and cons, I couldn’t tell him yes or no, I could only say that I would support him in whatever decision he made and pray that God would guide him and give him the courage and strength to make the right decision.
Where are your strengths? They are there in your creativity, wisdom and perspectives. Whether you pick up a paint brush or see a piece of wood and envision what it could become. They can be found in your bravery, honesty, kindness and love. We find strength in so many aspects of our lives. God has given these strengths to us, we just need that courage from Him to recognize them and guide us to use them in ways so that they are beneficial not only to ourselves but to others.
This brings to mind one of my favorite prayers, it’s one I recite every single day.
God grant me the Serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
The Courage to change the things I can
And the Wisdom to know the difference.
Beautiful poem.
Don’t be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
For many years I was an awkward, timid person. I was not strong, I was not outgoing and I didn’t participate in activities unless I was made to. By my Junior year of high school I started coming out of my shell, I started being me. I was in the marching band; I actually carried the school banner and was one of the first people you saw when we came marching down the street. I wasn’t in the back hiding behind everyone else anymore. I sang in choir competitions and was in the school production of Irene. I had a job waiting tables; I was thriving and growing and enjoying my life. I even had a steady boyfriend.
Joshua 1:9 This is my command-be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
A year later I was in college and was so far out of my comfort zone that I actually failed. I was not strong or courageous. I had let my parents down and I had let myself down. But, I guess that God knew that this was not the path I needed to be on, because I was offered an office job as an executive assistant and I loved it. I flourished and my strengths grew as did my confidence.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, said the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
I think that there are times in all of our lives that we need to be reminded that God is with us, giving us strength and courage. Have you been struggling with addiction and needed God’s courage and strength to help you fight it; to walk away from from the temptation to use again. To refuse that drink that someone is offering you. To say “no thank you” when the waitress offers you the dessert menu, because you know that piece of chocolate cake would taste so good but it would raise your blood sugar or ruin the diet you’ve been working so hard maintain, so that you could lose that weight you have gained? Are you struggling with your family life or your faith? It is during these times when you turn to prayer and say “God, I need a little help here. I am strong, but I am stronger with your guidance. Help me in my strengths, so that I might do better.”
Are you stuck in a job that you just don’t like and it’s bringing you down; you’re not working at your highest potential? Maybe it’s the people you work with or the hours you have to work or maybe it’s just the job itself. If there were another opportunity out there, would you have the courage to go for it? Do you take that next step and see what that other job has to offer? Courage and strength... do you have the courage to walk away from one job and the strength to accept a different one?
Years ago, my husband came from work one day and said that very thing. I have an opportunity, but do I walk away from a job I’ve had for 20 years and take that risk? Do I have the courage to do this? My strengths are many because I know how to do my job, but there is no guarantee. But, as we all know, there are no guarantees in life. It would be a new startup business with nothing buy his work experience and his soon to be partner’s sales experience to get it going. We talked about the pros and cons, I couldn’t tell him yes or no, I could only say that I would support him in whatever decision he made and pray that God would guide him and give him the courage and strength to make the right decision.
Where are your strengths? They are there in your creativity, wisdom and perspectives. Whether you pick up a paint brush or see a piece of wood and envision what it could become. They can be found in your bravery, honesty, kindness and love. We find strength in so many aspects of our lives. God has given these strengths to us, we just need that courage from Him to recognize them and guide us to use them in ways so that they are beneficial not only to ourselves but to others.
This brings to mind one of my favorite prayers, it’s one I recite every single day.
God grant me the Serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
The Courage to change the things I can
And the Wisdom to know the difference.
Beautiful poem.
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