1 Chronicles 28:20 Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.
1 Chronicles 28:10 Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.”
1 Chronicles 22:13 Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:7-8 It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Joshua 1:6-9 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 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.”
1 Corinthians 16:13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
It is one thing to be strong and courageous when there are no trials and troubles raining down on our head. It is another to apply when you are neck-deep in them and another huge wave is ready to crash down on you all kinds of anxiousness, worry, heart pain, sleeplessness, unhappiness, and hurt. These attacks come in many forms; financial, health, friendship, family, culture/society approved norms. We normally don’t even get a fair warning that the storm is coming, it just blows up out of nowhere and we are carried away by the currents of each wave that powers over us. So what are we to do? How do we keep from being swept away into an unforgiving sea of worry and doubt?
Stay close to Jesus all the time and trust Him, cling to Him, and rely on Him.
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
“Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
“As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
“casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
“Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”
“ Call to me and I will answer you”
“ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?”
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”
The word of God is full of precious promises for our faith to stand firm on. Do not let things of this world and things this side of eternity rob you from a Jesus honoring victorious life through the current and waves of trials and troubles.
