“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”
“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” (NIV)
Psalm 31:2
When I think of courage, I think of firemen or policemen, not a regular person like me. Firemen brave heated, potentially life-threatening buildings. Policemen put their life in danger every time they report for duty. This verse would undoubtedly be comforting to them in their day-to-day jobs.
As I think of my life, is it any less dangerous? There are no guarantees I will be around tomorrow, or even later today. This weekend I transported my sister to emergency at the hospital. She was in the middle of a painful kidney stone attack. I wanted to take the pain away. I prayed feverishly for her as we traveled, for the vehicle to keep running, and for us not to be involved in a traffic accident. I tried to speak words of comfort to her. Otherwise, I was basically helpless to take away her pain or assure her she’d live through the awful ordeal.
Our hope is in the Lord. Deep down, I knew He was in control, and that He knew the beginning from the end. Thankfully, my sister survived. Medical personnel sorted it out and administered pain relief and her whole body eventually calmed. Today she is resting at home glad to be alive and out of pain.
God did strengthen our hearts as we both hoped in Him. We trusted God to see us through from beginning to end, and He did not let us down.
.