My gracious favour is all you need.  My power works best in your weakness…Since I know it’s all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. (!)  For when I am weak, then I am strong.—Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might…take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you. 

O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame—LORD, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me.  My only hope is in your unfailing love and faithfulness. For troubles surround me–too many to count!

Oh, the joys of those who trust the LORD…

II Cor.12:9,10 NLT; Eph.6:10,13 ESV; II Chron. 20:17 ESV; Ps. 40:11-12 NLT; Ps.25:2-3 ESV; Ps. 40: 4

My life is not overflowing with troubles right now.  They loom, it is true, in the recesses of my imagination.  Any number of factors could change without a moment’s notice; I am only too aware of this. Truly “man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7 ESV); this is part of the human condition ever since the Garden.  But I don’t think we’re meant to live in fear of what might be just around the corner. 

I tend to live in a sort of braced gratefulness.  I am very thankful for this peaceful interlude in our lives…but a niggling fear nibbles at my heart, warning me to ‘be ready’, ‘watch out!’, ‘brace yourself’ a squall is coming. This temptation to fear prompts me to rely on my own sense of ‘readiness’.  It would steal present peace in exchange for a false sense of future control.  It would undermine my trust in God’s good and sovereign hand over all of life if I yield to its incitements.  So today these verses lay down a strong foundation for faith, the perfect shield for all the enemy’s darts, leaving me free to just be thankful!

O LORD my God, you have done many miracles for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list.  If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them! Ps.40:5