“Courage comes to the fainthearted who faithfully follow Jesus.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – July 23, 2025
By your patience possess your souls. Luke 21:19
When the world feels like it’s unraveling—when persecution knocks at your door, when hardship becomes your unwelcome companion, when chaos seems to be writing the headlines of your life—our instinct screams at us to do something. Fight back. Run away. Take control. Fix it. But Jesus offers a different kind of wisdom that sounds almost counterintuitive to our frantic hearts: “By your patience possess your souls.” He’s not talking about passive resignation or defeated surrender. This is active, muscular endurance—the kind that plants its feet and refuses to be moved, not by circumstances but by an unshakeable trust in God’s ultimate authority over every storm. Picture a lighthouse in a hurricane. It doesn’t flee the wind or fight the waves. It simply stands, beam steady, anchored to something deeper than the chaos swirling around it. That’s the soul possessed by patience—not untouched by the storm, but unmoved by it. In our anxiety-driven culture, this kind of patient endurance feels revolutionary. While panic promises quick solutions, patience guards what matters most: the soul itself. Courage continues to love and trust.
As a new Christian, zeal provides courage for holy boldness with abandonment. This same vitality remains essential as we grow and mature in faith. Heartaches and hardships should not define us; instead, they should inform us of a greater purpose at work. Through patience, you gain possession of your soul, realizing that you have the mind of Christ to discern your next steps, and you embody the life of Christ to fill you with strength and stamina. Courage continues. Courage is ordinary people doing the next right thing when everything in them wants to quit. It’s choosing forward motion over paralysis, hope over despair, one small step at a time. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is simply refuse to give up. Courage carries on trusting and obeying!
Courage doesn’t look like what we think it does. It’s not the absence of trembling hands or the silencing of a racing heart. Real courage is the mother who gets up at dawn despite her depression, knowing her children need breakfast. It’s the man who takes a break from work after losing his father; he gives himself permission to grieve because life demands he keep moving. It’s the couple who keeps talking through their marriage crisis instead of walking away when conversations feel impossible. Oswald Chambers says, “The Christian life is one of spiritual courage and determination lived out in our flesh.” What does it mean to have spiritual courage?
Spiritual courage involves praying when heaven feels silent, loving after betrayal, and forgiving when justice cries out for revenge. It’s the cancer patient who worships through chemotherapy, the grieving parent who opts for hope instead of bitterness, and the struggling believer who continues attending church even when their faith feels fragile. This courage doesn’t eliminate fear; it acknowledges it and then chooses to trust anyway. It’s David picking up five smooth stones, fully aware that Goliath towers above him, yet God towers above Goliath. Spiritual courage believes that what we cannot see is more real than what we can. Look with eyes of faith to perceive the unseen. Your moods will try to manipulate you; refuse to be swayed by unhealthy emotions. Instead, rise above the ideas, people, and circumstances that trigger your fears. Have the courage to trust that God is good and that nothing can separate you from His love. Move forward with confidence, knowing that Christ is with you and for you. Courage comes to the fainthearted who faithfully follow Jesus. Be patient in caring for your soul by being loved well.
Prayer
Lord, give me courage to continue when I feel weary. Help me trust Your strength in my weakness and walk forward in faith, knowing You go before and within me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
What are you facing that requires spiritual courage to carry on?
Related Reading
Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 41:10; Psalm 31:24; 2 Corinthians 4:8-9; Galatians 6:9
Worship Resource
Celtic Worship: Because He Lives
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