“Be strong, let your heart take courage,

all who hope in the Lord” (Ps 31).

Where are you feeling the call to courage today? Are you fearful? Worried? Wondering which way to turn?

Sometimes, all we know is that we’re suffering where we are. We know the cause of the stress; we know where it comes from. But what to do? The path forward isn’t clear. We’re not sure whom to ask for help. Maybe we’ve already asked and the direction is unclear.

This is when we surrender and go to God. We leave our troubles at the foot of the Cross. We ask Jesus to take and transform them.

We find strength not in ourselves, but rather in His presence in our hearts. The Lord is enough. Our hope in Him, our confidence in His will, invite our hearts to expand and stretch so that He can fill us with courage.

Like muscles that are worked in physical trial, like metal purified in the refiner’s fire, like the spirit that is disciplined in fasting, we are made strong in our willingness to surrender completely to God.

Hope in the Lord will lead to courage, and courage will lead to strength.