Be Strong and Take Action

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy Of: Miguel Bruna

"The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action." ~Daniel 11:32b

I heard a mentor of mine, Sally Clarkson, quote this verse on her podcast one day, and it really stayed with me. And, as the Lord would have it, the verse came to me right before I entered last year into an incredibly hard season when my husband left for a seven month deployment.


What I discovered was that if I hoped to not only endure that deployment season, but actually thrive in the midst of it, I was going to have to rehearse to myself what I know to be true about my God. I’ve said before that the key to being able to trust God is knowing the character of God - because you can’t trust someone you don’t know. And this certainly proved true during one of the hardest seven months of my life.


Military wives are commonly told things like, “Wow, you’re so strong!”, “I could never do what you do.”, and “I don’t know how you do it!”.


But here’s the thing: military wives are no stronger than any other kind of wife on their own.


Sure, we can try to muster our way through, we can put on a brave place, we can stuff our raging emotions, and we can try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. But eventually we will hit a wall, and those things simply won't be good enough anymore.


So, as I approached the days and months of deployment looming ahead of me last year and all that they would hold, I determined that I was not going to make the mistake of relying on myself. Instead, I would rely on my God and the knowledge I have of who He is - because those who know their God and His character will be strong. And they will take action. 

You may not be facing a deployment as I was, but chances are you may be facing your own version of a hard season. It may be looming heavily ahead of you, as mine was for me, but I have good news for you. You do not have to merely survive this season - you actually can thrive in it! But you will have to rehearse what you know to be true about your God. And if you don't know what's true about Him? If you feel like you don't grasp His character? There's good news for you, too! The more you study the Word, the more you will know Him. And the more you know Him, the more you, too, will be able to stand firm and take action!

He is with you, and will walk with you every step of the path ahead.