taking courage

Thursday, September 27, 2018 (6:04 a.m.)

Holy God,

(6:36 a.m.)

I don’t seem to be completely here yet. Thank You for waiting for me to show up in full.

This led me to wonder, do You wait for us? There is much written on the subject. Thank You Father. Thank You that the more I wonder, the more there is to wonder about.

Reading a webpage by Barry Raeburn I smiled at his encouraging words about faith. It “grows when we exercise it, it’s like a muscle, the more we use it, the stronger it becomes.”

How I truly thank You Blessed Father. I can so easily get lost in the differing directions my mind goes at any given moment. It’s when I come back to You and Your Word that I experience peace. Hope. Courage.

Mm, yes. Thank You for calling us to exercise our faith muscles. 

I sit here smiling as I read the various renderings for Psalm 27:14. So many different ways of saying the same thing:

Wait on the LORD. Wait for the Lord. Hope in the LORD! Trust the LORD! Stay with GOD! Be entwined as one with the Lord. Look unto Jehovah!

That being only the first section of the verse, we also have the many different names for You. Lord, Jehovah, Adonai, God, Hashem, Yahweh.

Oh thank You Father. Lest I ever get cocky in thinking I know so much, these names alone are enough to put a question mark over my head. Some translations using all capital letters when referring to You in certain circumstances, and others not.

There seems to always be so much more to any given verse than originally meets my eye. Thank You Lord for being here to guide and direct our thinking. Understanding. Hearts. Souls. Minds. And strength.

As I prepare to go out into this day [which YOU have made! (Psalm 118:24a)] I am asking that I will truly “rejoice and be glad in it” (24b). Mm, yes, Father.

12:17 p.m.

Mm, yes! Rejoicing and being glad. As simple as it may seem, there’s a certain amount of courage required to genuinely rejoice and be glad. Being solemn and resentful are much more my norm.

Thank You that Your’s is the much better Way! Waiting patiently for You. Being brave [strong] and taking courage as we “wait for and confidently expect the LORD” (Psalm 27:14, Amplified Bible).

Said quite simply in the Contemporary English Version, “Trust the LORD! Be brave and strong and trust the LORD.”

Or how about this from the Common English Bible? “Hope in the LORD! Be strong! Let your heart take courage! Hope in the LORD!”

Even here my heart very easily gives way to singing. ♪Trust in the LORD with all your heart; And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path♪ (Proverbs 3:5,6).

Thank You Father. Taking courage to address You, especially when I seemingly have nothing of importance to say speaks volumes to me. Thank You for being the incredibly good God that You are.

I love You. I long to serve You. Exactly as You wish. Thank You Father. Amen.

(541 words ~ 1:00 p.m.)