This psalm is one of trial and trust. Because our hope is in God, who does deliver, His
name is glorified when He relieves our distress, and at the same time we are vindicated in our
faith. When we turn to God with renewed trust in His goodness and love, He fills us and then
we can give encouragement to others. As a caretaker, we need to take care of ourselves before
we can give to another. This Psalm 31:6, also has the words, Jesus uttered from the cross, “Into
your hands I commend My spirit; You will redeem Me, Lord, God of truth.” Many a time, have I
prayed that verse over loved ones I have needed to set before the Lord.
I looked up the words ‘take heart’ – to stay confident and positive, to be happy about
something, to be encouraged, to have hope, to be bold and confident, to not give up, to be of
good cheer, to have courage. As a child of God, I have every reason to take heart, no matter
what I am facing. I can take heart because my life is held in the hands of the One who is the
essence of love. When I rest in Him, I can take heart because He really does have the power to
deliver all that He has promised.
A promise I hold onto strongly is Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and
are burdened, and I will give you rest.” It is only in the Lord that I will find rest and receive the
strength to continue to endure and walk the journey placed before me. Sometimes it is
necessary for one to step back before seeking a way of stepping up. It is why the ‘rest’ is
important. Sometimes we go through the pain to get to God’s purpose. I heard recently,
sometimes God uses times of transition to bring about transformation. It can be hard during
difficult times, and we do our best to trust and hope in the Lord a moment at a time.
God’s grace means I can rest assured that I will have everything needed to be what He
wants me to be and to do what He wants me to do where He has placed me. I am no longer
restricted to the limits of my own strength and wisdom, I do not have to feel weak in the face of
suffering or temptation because I no longer rest in the resources of my own ability. I am in
Christ and He is in me. God’s grace gives me a reason to take heart and grow stronger, rather
than be weakened by difficulty.
It is a fact we will experience hardship in life and deal with pain, grief, and loss. While
we cannot change the circumstances, we do get to choose how we will respond to trials. Are
we telling God how big our problem is or are we telling our problem how big our God is? When
we respond, will we choose to take heart?