Be Strong and Courageous

Throughout the Bible, God encourages us not to be afraid or discouraged, but to be strong and courageous. He gave us the Spirit of power and not of fear and timidity. Maybe you don’t feel very strong or courageous in your battles today, but God is close by your side as you reach out to Him for His help and His empowering. As Christians soldiers we need to be strong and courageous in our walk with the Lord. Even waiting and hoping in the Lord requires courage (Psalm 31:24 and 27:14).

You need to be strong and courageous, when the only thing you see when you look up, is the Egyptian army pursuing you and God is saying, "The Egyptians you see today, you will never see them again." It may not be making sense or adding up at the moment, because in front of you is the Red Sea. You need to be strong and courageous in such a scenario when the Lord is telling you to stand still and see His salvation.

Joshua had to be strong and courageous to lead people to the promise land. You need to be strong and courageous when the land God has been promising you is occupied by giants.

You need to be strong and courageous when God strips away 32,000 men, leaving only 300 men to conquer the Midianites. You need to be strong and courageous to march towards your enemy shouting, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”, while blowing the trumpets.

You need to be strong and courageous, when God assures you that you don’t need to fight this battle, but you need to face it, take up your position and stand firm (2 Chronicles 20:17). Taking up position and standing firm in the presence of your enemy, you need to be strong and courageous.

You need to be strong and courageous to march around the Jericho walls for seven days, believing that, on the seventh day, on the seventh time, the walls will fall down, as you shout and sound the rams’ horns, although there was no sign of any cracks in the walls before that. You need to be strong and courageous to take God at His word. When you`re strong and courageous, you`re able to trust God at His word and His promises, even when the waves are roaring.

You need to be strong and courageous, to obey the Lord, and to even witness for the Lord, and uphold sound doctrine in our Lord Jesus Christ in today`s society.

Prayer: Lord, I pray for Your children. Give them courage and strength, in whatever they`re facing today, to be still and know that You’re God. May they know You`re right there beside them in the situation that requires them to be strong, because You`re fighting for them. Dear Lord, give them courage to be strong and courageous in You, in Jesus` name, I pray and believe. Amen.