Strong Enough...Thursday

4/30/15

A song we sang in Church recently had the following line in it…

“Hold onto hope and take courage again.”

Those words captivated my imagination and attention. Sometimes I get so bogged down that I cannot even bring the word hope to the front of my mind. Courage seems buried deep as well. In the process I am jerked around trying to get to where I know I should be but without the strength to achieve it.

Have you ever watched an ice show where there is a center skater?  She is joined one by one by other skaters who join hands with her as she slowly turns around in the center. The skaters who join the line have to skate faster and faster the farther they are from the center. Often I feel like the last skater on the line. I do not have the strength to skate like crazy to keep up with the line, and I loose heart and courage to continue. This constitutes a loss of hope, and my valor and pluck are nowhere within reach.

As I listened to this song during worship this morning I realized that the concepts in it are ones that I already know and believe. Every challenge I have encountered is handled by God who is our over-comer…pain, sorrow, trouble, tears, failure, fear, heartache, and shame. He leads us to victory while teaching and guiding us to grow through what we encounter on the path. There is no reason to despair or to give up. He is our strength and is always with us. God is always “here” and not only “up there.”

Heavenly Father,
I come before you to praise you for who you are and for how you think. You have only good intentions for me in Your plan. When I get to the place where I feel like the last skater in the line, please help me to remember immediately that you are the overcomer of all my shortcomings as I often see them. Remind me to “hold onto hope and take courage again.” Thank you, Lord.
Amen

Written by
Corinne Mustafa