Be
Strong,
And
Let Your Heart
Take Courage
My times
are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let
your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love. Do not let
me be put to shame, O LORD, for I call on you; let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go dumbfounded to Sheol. Let the lying lips
be stilled that speak insolently against the righteous with pride and contempt.
O how
abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who fear you, and
accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of everyone! In the
shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots; you hold them safe
under your shelter from contentious tongues.
Blessed
be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege. I had said in my alarm, "I
am driven far from your sight." But you heard my supplications when I
cried out to you for help.
Love the
LORD, all you his saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but abundantly
repays the one who acts haughtily. Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD.
Psalm 31:9-24
Few
unbroken lives in this world are useful to God. Few men and woman can fulfill
their hopes and plans without some interruption and disappointment along the
way. But man's disappointments are often God's appointments, and the things we
believe are tragedies may be the very opportunities through which God chooses
to exhibit His love and grace. We have but to follow these lives to the end to
see that people who have been broken become better and more effective
Christians than if they had carried out all their own plans and purposes.
The best
things that come to us are not those that accrue from having our way, but by
letting God have His way. Though the way of testing and trial and sorrow often
seems hard and cruel, it is the way of God's love and in the end will be the
best for us.
As long as we walk uprightly, nothing will ever be withheld
from us.
For a Christian, wholeness always comes after brokenness.
Our Daily Bread -