Courage: Why It Is Important to Get Back Up

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:22

Driving down the road several years ago, feeling overwhelmed with all the pressures of life, I cried out, “God, this is too much! I can’t go on trying to control this!” I’ll never forget His soft, sweet reply: “The only responsibility you have is to care for your relationship with Me. Everything else you worry over is My responsibility. I’ll take care of those!” When I let God take the wheel, I became happy and peaceful with God’s plan for me. When others asked why, I was given the opportunity to share Christ with them. This is why it is exciting to get back up when we fall.

It is easy to say, “If anything can go wrong, it will.” Those who know me have often heard me say that we may never operate with Plan A and resort to Plans B, C, D, E, F, or G. You have a choice. You can be upset that things didn’t go as expected, or you can be thankful that the other options were in place, ready to be implemented! How you put things in perspective at the end of the day will influence your approach to tomorrow.Take the bad days and allow them to become your spice of life! And thank God that He has given you with the ability to keep going when times are bad.

The saddest, yet most precious years in my walk with God occurred when I was a very young adult. I was filled with grief, confusion, anger, bitterness, hurt, and other emotions. The thing I learned the most was that God understands every emotion. He understood more about my pain than I did. I released the “evildoers” and my need to see immediate justice. Doing so released me and allowed Him to take charge of a seemingly impossible situation. When we do not know why things happen, we can take comfort in knowing that the outcome will be in our favor through our Father. Then the “how” doesn’t seem as important.

What was my outcome? Well, let’s just say I wouldn’t have it any other way. God is good! It takes real courage to keep getting up. But when we look up to seek God’s power, the getting up is almost effortless.

“O God, my help in ages past, my hope for years to come, my shelter from the stormy blast, and my eternal home.”[i] My strength and courage come from You. Thank You for lifting me higher when I trust in You. Amen.