Be Strong and Brave

I have an old song stuck on my head today. It says, “Be bold. Be strong. For The Lord, your God, is with you.” It’s a great reminder that no matter what you are facing today that The Lord is with you. If He is with you, then He is for you. The Scripture says that if God is for you, who can be against you? I don’t know what your facing today, but I know that God wants you to be bold and strong because He is with you.

There are times when the storm, battle or mountain that we face seem too big. It may look like it will consume you and there is no way to survive it. I assure you that you can survive it. With God on your side, how can you be defeated? I’ve learned that I may get banged up, scarred or bruised through whatever I’m facing. Just because that happens, it doesn’t mean that God is not for me or that I can’t survive it.

We were not promised that we would walk through this world without getting scars or face problems. In fact, Jesus said in John 16:33 that in this world we would have many trials. That doesn’t sound like life will be a bed of roses if we follow Jesus. He guaranteed that you will fight battles, face mountains and endure storms. The good news is that He didn’t stop the conversation there. The very next thing He said was, “Be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. (AMP)”

Yes, you are going to face some things that will seem like they will swallow you up. They may consume your every waking thought and cause you to lose sleep, but take courage, He has overcome this world and has conquered those things that seem like they’re about to conquer you. You can rest assured in the promises of God, in who He says He is and what He says He’ll do.

You don’t have to lose sleep or waste energy worrying. God sees you in your battle, He’s watching you in that storm and He’s got His watchful eye on you as you climb that mountain. He will give you the strength you need in your time of trouble. He will hear your cry from Heaven. He will come walking to you on the water while the storms of life rage in order to walk with you. If you get scars or bruised up in the process, use them for His glory. Show them proudly and let others know that when you were at your lowest, when you were beat down and when you thought you couldn’t survive another day, God came to your rescue.

Psalm 31:24 in the Message version says, “Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. Expect God to get here soon.” That’s exactly what I need to hear when I’m struggling and fighting what seems to be a losing battle. I love how it ends with “expect God to get here soon.” You may feel like you are fighting alone, but hang on. God is on His way. Expect Him to get there soon. It will be at just the right time and not a minute sooner. Don’t give up while waiting. Be strong and brave.

Here is the link to a YouTube video of the song mentioned at the beginning.