Be strong and courageous

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle with the pending start of the work week. I get in my head all the things that need to be done and the relaxation I may have enjoyed over the weekend slips away like a mist. I usually feel it later in the day on Sunday and it starts to rob me of any of the peace I may have enjoyed throughout the day.

I used to lose sleep as I would go through my list of things that needed to get done at work, at home, in the military. It became an endless cycle of worry resulting in lack of sleep, causing more worry due to fatigue. I always found it interesting that people from the outside looking in always saw the accomplishments and never saw the stress and endless feeling of climbing up a steep mountain with ever decreasing oxygen making every step more difficult than the last.

Then something changed, instead of saying I would turn things over to God, I actually turned things over to God. I mean, I let it go. I didn’t stop taking action, I simply removed the worry of the things that had not and might not happen. God calls us to be “strong and courageous” He commands us to “not be afraid” nor “discouraged” because He is with us wherever we go, whatever we do (Joshua 1:9, NIV). Every time I turned things over to God it brought about a peace that I had not previously felt. The results were not always as desired, but I was never alone and I knew that I would get through it with God by my side. Every step in strengthening my faith and relationship with God made the weight of the world get lighter and lighter.

So, today, I don’t fret about what Monday or the week may bring. I get to wake up tomorrow, I get to face the challenges, I get to walk in my faith with our Almighty Father.

Today, I pray that you look forward to the week and not face it with dread. I pray that you never lose sight that God is with us and because of this, we have strength and courage that is unmatched. Go have a great week!