Courageousness

Joshua 1:9
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

There are times when you come face to face with yourself, and all of the sudden, everything makes sense.  All of the sudden the reasons why you did this and said that are rudely apparent and you're forced to put up with your own reality.

At times like these, its difficult for me to be courageous.  I tend to want to curl up and bemoan my fate.  I desperately want someone to come find me, pick me up, and hold me.  Sometimes, only God is available to do that for you.  I would be lying if I said that sometimes it feels like God isn't enough.  I know He should be enough, but there is something about the physical presence of arms holding you close that seems to connect easier with us than God's intangible presence.

I was recently encouraged by this song by Laura Story called "Blessings".  And at the risk of seeing too "high school", I'm going to post the lyrics and a Youtube link.  How often we ask God for the things we want rather than the things we need.  Maybe in times like these when courage seems difficult to grasp, we can cling to the hope and the promise of God's never-ending love and that He knows what is best for us: Him.

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise