Strength through Faith

 By: Grace Metzger

Be strong and courageous.
Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV

My church recently introduced me to my current favorite song, “Gratitude” by Brandon Lake. It’s a great song but my absolute favorite part of the song is: “So come on my soul, don’t you get shy on me, lift up your song cause you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs. Get up and praise the Lord.” That part stuck in my heart when I first heard it. I wouldn’t consider myself as someone who has a lion inside of them. That is something that I strive to be, someone who has a lion inside of those lungs. I understand that’s a bit confusing, but my point is that I wanted to have that strength to be able to speak up.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be frightened, and do
not be dismayed, For the Lord your God is
with you Wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9 ESV

When I read that verse, I was reminded of the song. Being strong and courageous is a lot easier said than done. Fear can be quite powerful, but then I asked myself, what’s more powerful, fear or my God? Was I choosing to make God small whenever I thought fear was too powerful for Him to control?

Fear is a normal thing, but we’re blessed that we have a Father who can give us the strength to be strong and courageous. There are so many verses in the Bible about being strong and courageous, which made picking just a few to share with you quite hard! One of my favorite’s that I’ve been repeating to myself is found in Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”

That verse helped me a lot in times of worry and fear. I found it when my nephew was having heart surgery. I, of course, felt like I was going to die from how much worry and fear I was having for that little baby. I didn’t feel very strong during that time. But God showed me the verse and I could feel His peace come to me. He gave me the strength to handle that situation and all He asked in return was for me to wait and trust Him.

Strength doesn’t mean not having emotions, or never crying, or being able to lift 100 pounds. Strength comes from trusting that God is in control of every situation. We just have to trust in Him.