“So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!”
Psalm 31:24 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.31.24.NLT
“Be strong and courageous.”
Easier said than done.
The Psalms are filled with beautiful poetry—pictures painted in words and raw emotion as their authors pour out their hearts to God. They speak to me because I can often relate to what the writers felt. Their words echo my own heart. I may not have a thousand enemies chasing me, but I do know what it feels like to cry out to God through hard seasons.
I often feel far from Him. I feel attacked, ashamed, angry, and alone. I’ve fallen asleep with quiet, sometimes unexplainable tears streaming down my face. I’ve felt the sting of friends and companions turning away from me. I’ve made many mistakes, and apologies don’t always fix everything. When my mind screams at me and tells me I’m an awful person, the Psalms become a balm to my soul. When worry squeezes me and I feel like I might break beneath the pressure—those times when my mind refuses to quiet—the Word of God stills it. His truth soothes the places where my thoughts have worn deep grooves of fear and anxiety.
Sometimes my thoughts swirl like a thousand angry bees. Each sting brings reminders of what I’ve done wrong. I can’t focus, forget, or forgive myself as the lies swarm and my mind spirals into despair. I lie awake in a fog of sorrow and worry, longing for the Lord to rescue and restore my life.
In those moments, I open the Bible on my phone or whisper Scripture from memory—the Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 23, Psalm 100—anything to pull my mind out of the darkness closing in. We were not made to be buried alive under fear, worry, or anxiety.
To be strong and courageous feels like a call to strengthen the weakness hidden inside me.
But I don’t feel strong.
I feel terrified.
As a people-pleaser, I’m constantly afraid I’ll do something wrong—offend someone, hurt someone unintentionally, fail as a mother, or lack the wisdom or skill I need in the moment. I get tired of feeling like I mess up daily. It’s exhausting trying to please everyone and do everything right.
The truth is, I’m just a person trying my best to survive this life while following after God. And I miss the mark often. If I’m truly honest, I don’t always follow Him well. I forget to thank Him, worship Him, honor Him. I put Him on hold—letting Him listen to elevator music until I press the call button. Even then, I only call when things get hard or when I want something.
But that is not where He belongs.
God should be my first thought, not my last.
My daily lifeline, not my emergency backup.
So how does someone like me ever become strong and courageous?
I don’t feel strong—I feel fear. But Scripture meets me right in that fear:
“But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.”
Psalm 56:3 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.56.3.NLT
“The Lord is my light and my salvation—why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger…”
Psalm 27:1–6 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.27.3.NLT
“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you…”
Isaiah 43:2 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.43.2.NLT
God walks with me. He sees every fear, every failure, every tear. He is my fortress and my strength; I cannot walk this life alone.
And that accusing voice in my mind—that constant reminder of my faults—is not God. He does not punish me again and again. He does not drag old sins back into the light. He forgives, restores, and forgets.
“I… will blot out your sins… and will never think of them again.”
Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.43.25.NLT
I’m not sure I have a point other than getting these thoughts out of my head. Writing clears my mind and releases the emotions building inside me.
Lately, I feel like I’m in a season of simply existing. A season of waiting. Life is good, but it’s hard. And in slow, easy seasons, I can forget how much I still need God. I forget that He is the One who calms the raging storms inside me, the One who whispers “peace, be still” over trauma and turmoil. Even when life is quiet, my mind can roar.
I may not need Him today to rescue me from a crisis, but I still need Him desperately—to walk with me through each day and every night. Life doesn’t tell us when the storms will hit. I need Him in the quiet moments, in the valleys and on the mountaintops. I need Him on the long roads of desert sand with no water—because He is the living water. He restores my soul.
I need Him to help me be strong and courageous.
He is building my strength.
He is refining me.
He is shaping me through every high and low.
He clears my thoughts. He opens my eyes.
I was lost, and He found me.
I was blind, and He is clearing my vision daily until one day I will see fully what I now see dimly.
Matthew 6:25–30 reminds me to stop worrying—because worrying changes nothing. The answer is to pray and give everything to God. It sounds far too simple to be real, and much harder than it seems, but He has never failed me yet. So why do I keep grabbing my life back out of His hands? Why do I keep carrying what He has offered to carry?
Why am I afraid? Why is my heart unsettled?
I want the peace of God.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…”
John 14:27 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.14.27.NLT
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand…”
Philippians 4:7 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/php.4.7.NLT
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you… I will strengthen you and help you.”
Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.41.10.NLT
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.5.7.NLT
“I cried out, ‘I am slipping!’ but Your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
When doubts filled my mind, Your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.”
Psalm 94:18–19 (NLT)
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.94.18-19.NLT
God knows our struggles. He reminds us again and again that we can trust Him. I doubt I’m the only one who wrestles with fear—otherwise He wouldn’t have filled Scripture with so many loving reminders. We can be strong and courageous not because of our own bravery, but because we trust in Him.
Praying for you all through this holiday season—through the winter months, the cold nights, the quiet waiting, the valleys and the mountains, the droughts and the rains. May the peace of God guard your heart and mind in every season.