Be Strong and Take Heart in the Lord

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."-Psalm 24:17

        I read this verse yesterday in one of those email devos. that I get everyday and it just hit me right on the spot. I think this is my new favorite verse for right now in this time in my life. There were two words that hit me hard at they were "Be Strong".  As women or even girls, we think that we can't be strong and if we are that is a bad thing. To me, God is saying in this verse, "Wait for me and while you do that be strong and take heart and wait." God gave us three commands in this verse and they are very important ones.
         First command is to "wait for the Lord". We need to wait on Him before we move ahead in what we think are the plans for us. We might be wrong and what to go ahead because we what something now and God isn't giving it to us. Wait and see that the Lord is good. He will make things happen in His Perfect Timing.
          Second command is to "be strong and take heart". This command could be broken down into 2 commands but we'll just do one for now. This part got me because I've always thought, as women, we can be the strong ones if we are something is wrong with us. That is not true. We can be strong but it depends in what. We can't just sit around and do nothing and wait for something to happen. We have to be strong and do it. This helps me with my job because it is one of those where you have to be strong in the sense that you can't get the children get to you. You can let them walk all over you and you can't let them see that you are mad or upset. It is also good to follow when you are single because that means you can live with yourself and be happy with who you are and won't fall for anything. "Take heart" means, to me, that you take ahold of something and go with it with all of your heart in this verse. What God has given you to do and where He has placed you right now, you need to be strong and go with it. See what God has in store for you there now while you do wait on more from Him. He could be teaching you a lot where you are know whether it is growing you closer to Him or about the subject or both. It is both for me. He is healing me in ways I never thought He could and I'm not the one that needs healing compare to the children I work with.
           Third command is to "wait for the Lord" again. Why do you think God would put that in the Bible 2 times in the same verse? I think He would because that is the most important thing you can do. If you didn't wait for the Lord, your life would be a mess after a mess. You would try to control it and it would turn out bad. There are times I have tried to control my life and it didn't end up how I wanted it to but now I look back and think I'm glad I waited on the Lord because I would not be where I am today if I didn't. I couldn't see me doing things in high school that I thought about doing but it would for sure mess me up a lot if I did.
           The Lord wants us to be strong in Him and to take ahold of Him so that we will follow the plan He has for us. He knows us better then we know ourselves and His Plan and Timing is way better. He takes us through steps to get us to the plan He wants us to have plus the Home He has for us in Heaven. That is our Real Goal. That is why we are really being strong and holding on. It is also funny how God showed me this verse after having a talk to a teenager this past week about holding on and her goals/dreams for her life. Just another example of God teaching me at this job in a lot of ways if I just open my eyes.