Wednesday Words of Encouragement: Courage in the Storm

I spoke at a church in Keeseville, NY this past weekend at a ladies luncheon and it was such a wonderful time.  I thought over the next few Wednesdays I would share parts of the different points that I shared with the ladies.

I walked them through Psalm 27 and being in the midst of a storm.  From this Psalm we learn that we are to have courage in life's storms, God provides shelter in life's storms, that we are to pray in life's storms and remind ourselves of God's goodness during life's storms.

Today we will look at having courage in life's storms.

Psalm 27:1-3 (HCSB) ~

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom should I be afraid?
 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.
 Though an army deploys against me,
my heart is not afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
still I am confident.

It so difficult to be courageous when we are in the midst of a storm.  I don't know about you but I absolutely hate wind storms.  They seem to happen more frequently at night here and as I lay in my bed I'll hear every creak and grown of the house.  When this happens, I often feel fearful as it sounds as if the roof will blow off.  I spend a lot of time praying during these storms!

When we face a storm in our lives we can give in to fear very quickly.  However, we are to have courage and we can have it because as David reminds us here 1) God is our light; 2) God is our salvation and 3) God is our stronghold.  He lights our path, showing us the way.  He is the one that saves us and provides a firm foundation against the waves of the storms. 

If you do not have a firm foundation, which is faith in Jesus Christ, you will crumble when those storms come. 

Isaiah 28:16 (MSG) ~

"Watch closely.  I'm laying a foundation in Zion,
  a solid, granite foundation, squared and true.
And this is the meaning of the stone:
  A TRUSTING LIFE WON'T TOPPLE.

A life without trust in Christ will fall down when the storms hit.   I don't know where you stand today in your walk with the Lord, but if you don't know Jesus as your person Savior, I would ask you to begin to take a look at how you are facing your storms.  Christ can help you through any trial you face.  He can give you the courage to face whatever you are dealing with at the moment.  You just have to open your heart and let Him in.

If you do know Christ, trust Him.  Keep your eyes on that light.  Lean into the firm foundation that He provides.  You can have courage because He will guide you through the storm.