be strong and courageous

In today's reading from the One Year Bible, God tells us to be strong and courageous. You can listen to the OT reading HERE and the NT reading HERE.

In the Psalms for today, we are told "Be strong and courageous, you who trust in the Lord." And that might seem hard. To some, it's like being told, "Be healthy!" or "Be rich!" You might think to yourselves, "Well, I'd LIKE to be strong and courageous, but I don't feel that way. I feel weak and fearful."

And that's a natural and human way to feel. But there is a moment in the Chronicles of Narnia that might help us to understand what this means. There is a moment when the children are afraid, and they are talking to Aslan. He tells them what will happen, and that they need to be courageous. They don't feel that way, and they share their fear with Him. But then He comes and kisses them, and they smell the perfume of His mane. And then their fears fly away, and they become strong and bold. Nothing has changed in their circumstances. But being with Him, they themselves are changed and ready to face their challenges.

That's what we need to do. We all face scary things. Life can be hard. Diseases strike. Jobs are lost. Friends die. It can be hard sometimes. And there are times when we pray, and He changes our circumstances. Our friends get well. We get a new job. We get well, from the disease we had.

But there are other times that, instead of changing our circumstances, God breathes on us. He comes close and kisses us with His presence, and we are given courage by the perfume of His mane. In those moments, He changes not our circumstances, but us instead. He makes us strong and courageous.

If you need that strength and courage, ask Him. He will answer your prayer.

God, thanks for answering our prayers, sometimes by changing what's around us, and sometimes by changing us.