CHOOSE: COURAGE

In the midst of the pain and suffering, choose courage. (Psalm 27:14)

Choosing courage is much easier to type than it is to experience, especially when times "feel" hopeless. 

REMEMBER---Courage is not the absence of fear. 

I love it when courage "trumps" fear---
-- even if it is just in a Scrabble game.

REMEMBER---Fear is our recognition of needing God during these particularly "hard" times. 

Anxiety results when we try to deal with our fear without God. Times of soul wounding and buckets of tears. (Psalm 42:1-5) 

REMEMBER---Salt from tears CAN provoke our deepest thirst for God. (Jeff Schulte, 9/18/16)

REMEMBER---Thirst gives us the courage to choose to turn to Him with renewed hope.

Know that I am preaching to the choir here---one with no vocal ability, who is trying to quietly choose courage.

"tenaci-TEA"

Be still,  and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10, KJV)

Holding on can be hard, especially if it requires waiting. Tenacity is needed. Waiting to see what God will do. 

Disappointment occurred today when news was received that my "local" grandson did not get accepted to the campus school at the university. His assigned school has been taken over by the state and is in an unsafe area of town which adds great concern to the disappointment.
Though his mom had been diligent in doing all the "right" things, too many other variables seemed to over-ride her dream.
Too many others parents were employed at the university.
Too many others "grandfathered in" as siblings.
Too many others lived a "tad" closer to the school itself.

Regardless of the reasons for the outcome, it wasn't the news any of us wanted to hear.  

Oswald Chambers 2/22 entry in "My Utmost for His Highest" was a reminder that when hopes are disappointed, it isn't the end of a matter. Because thou has kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation...(Revelation 3:10) reminds us to NOT fall into the temptation to worry or to rush to "fix-it" in our own strength.
Waiting is required. Waiting with absolute certainty that God is sovereign. Waiting with scripture verses in our minds rather than fretting and being unduly upset. We need to "take heart" and not let our anxious thoughts multiply within us. (Psalm 94:19)

Great hope is shown by the psalmist in Psalm 27---a hope rooted in God's goodness. A hope that is patient, waiting on Him. A hope that gives strength to our tenacity.

For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble. (Psalm 27:5)

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.  (Psalm 27:14)

Spiritual tenacity is needed. A big cuppa tenaci-TEA! 

Waiting Room Angst

6/30/11 Frustration loomed as I had to ONCE AGAIN, declare my gender, race, SS #, etc. Somethings don't change folks----so why after coming to this same doctor's office for 25+ years do I have to fill it out yet again? Were others as frustrated with this clipboard conundrum? I glanced around the waiting room. Mostly old folks. Only one with a cell phone---how rare is that! Most looking at their toes or a magazine. No one looking up. One coughs, others lean away. All waiting as announcement blares, "patient for Dr. Finn." Each hopeful that they might be "said patient." Nurse appears at the door. Patient's name is called. Others resume their unresponsive waiting posture in the drab chairs of the "waiting" room.

Waiting seems to be hard for all of us, especially when the answer might be "negative"---waiting for the possible pink slip, waiting for the diagnosis, waiting for the RX that will offer us hope, waiting for the Lord, whose voice seems to be faint.
For today, my diagnosis wasn't perfect but nothing out of the "aging ordinary." Steps will be taken. Different paths tried. More waiting will take place as different meds are adjusted, 'til right prescription is found, hopefully without bad side effects.

All of this has me coming to realize that waiting doesn't have to be passive. Action continues. Steps are taken. Different procedures are tried or paths taken while waiting on the best direction.
Sounds like the Christian life to me. Right now I'm still waiting on the Lord for direction in several areas. Maybe some of it will be trial and error while I continue to seek Him.

Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)

Kneeling in God's waiting room, I await more divine information. As it comes, I'll share it. You'll just have to wait along with me.