Stay Strong

Belinda Kersey  written on 6-22-08

God’s Word

Joshua 1:9   Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Song
“Stay Strong” by Newsboys

My Thoughts

I’ve heard all my life God’s Word is alive and active.  It took me many years to grasp exactly what that really meant, but the truth of that statement has become more clear to me in the last few years.  I believe God really speaks to us through His Word.  What that means to me is when He is ready to reveal what he wants me to hear, then He will make that Word clear to me through His written word.  I don’t mean we can force scripture to mean what we want it to for any situation, what I mean is I could have read a passage a hundred times but not really grasped its significance in my life until the moment it was relevant for what God had for me at that specific time.

I believe as well God uses Christian songwriters, modern day David’s, to speak to us in the same way.  As months  turn to years, it is easy to lose sight of God’s promise for healing we cling to so desperately in the beginning of a health crisis.  Although I am certain God has ordained my healing, after many years it is easy to succumb to the belief  of maybe He didn’t mean here on this earth.  On a recent day of wavering, I heard these words:

“We've come through wilderness and watched the cloud by day turn the burning sky into dawn.  Have you forgotten who you are?  Did you forget whose trip you're on?  Stay strong.  You are not lost.  Come on and fix your eyes ahead There's a new dawn to light our day”

It would be easy to say, “But Lord, I wasn’t grumbling and complaining.  Surely you aren’t comparing me to those Israelites wandering in the wilderness.  I was just thinking since you have left me with this disease for so long…  Oh yeah, this is my wilderness isn’t it?”   Maybe all those times we’ve read about those grumblers, we felt a little superior because we would never be caught wandering through the wilderness while the Promised Land was just over the next sand dune.  But God reminded me through this song no matter how long MS has me “wheeling” through this life, I must “Get up, (because) there's further to go. Get up, there's more to be done.  Get up, this witness is sure.  Get up, this race can be won.”

It becomes so easy to question God’s timing.  When it was clear I was not going to be walking on my own, I told the Lord I could accept that fact for the moment but I really expected to walk down the aisle at my then fourteen year-old son’s wedding.  Well, the time came in May 2008 to see that same young man, a handsome twenty years old, take the hand of his bride.   You know what, I didn’t walk, he got married and it was ok.  I didn’t even think about walking that day.  I just thought about how quickly my sweet baby boy had become someone else’s sweet, handsome husband.

When you are in God’s grip, nothing else matters.  You live life, you do your best to please Him, you thank Him for the good and you praise Him in the bad.  “We've gotta stay strong.  (We) are not lost.  Come on and fix your eyes ahead Our Father's dawn will light our day...His grip is sure and His patience still endures.  There'll be no letting go today, no way...You and I run for the prize that lies ahead.  We've come too far to lose our way.”

Your Response

Lord, I want to stay strong, I want to know that you have me in your grip and you have not let me go to stumble through this wilderness on my own.  Let your assurance surround me and let your peace consume me.