Courage While Waiting

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 176, Courage While Waiting.

"Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!" — Psalm 31:24.

Let that land for a moment. Don't rush past it. Because David did not write this from the summit of victory. He wrote it from the middle of distress. From that place where the promise of God had not yet arrived. That uncertain in-between space — the one you know very well — between what God has said and the day it actually comes to pass.

And it is from exactly that place that he speaks: be strong. Courage while waiting. Not after the wait is over. Right in the middle of it.

I want you to hear this carefully. The command is "let your heart take courage" — and that assumes the fear is real. David is not pretending everything is fine. He is not asking you to paste on a smile and act like it doesn't hurt. He knows it hurts. And still he says: your heart may dare to trust. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the decision to trust while the fear is still there.

Now, I need to say something about what it means to wait on the Lord, because we have misunderstood this. Waiting is not standing still in resignation, watching the clock, hoping something changes. No. Waiting on the Lord is an active thing. It is keeping your eyes fixed on Him when everything around you says to give up. It is holding the faith when the answer delays. It is staying faithful in the small, daily things while you still cannot see the fulfillment. Waiting is walking — with your eyes on the God who promised.

And here is the heart of this verse: the strength is not yours to manufacture. The text does not tell you to grit your teeth and produce courage out of sheer willpower. No. The one who waits on the Lord receives from Him the very strength needed to keep standing. You do not have to create what you do not have. You have to turn toward the One who has everything — and receive from Him.

Because the wait has an end. Every in-between season points toward a dawn. There is no endless waiting for the one who trusts the Lord. You are not waiting in emptiness. You are walking toward a promise that will surely come. The God who promised is faithful. That is not cheap optimism — that is His word.

So today, my friend, I am calling you to one simple, courageous act. Name the wait that weighs on you most right now. That thing you carry quietly, the thing that sometimes feels like it will never be resolved. Don't run from it — look at it. Call it by name. And then, instead of giving up, take one small faithful step in that direction today. Just one step. And entrust the outcome to God. He knows exactly what He is doing with you.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.