Scripture Focus: Psalm 31:1–5, 24
Okay, so you know that whole “picked up extra work and about lost my mind” story I told you this week?
Let’s talk about what was actually happening underneath that.
Because it wasn’t really about the money. Well, not 100%.
It was about panic getting a vote in a decision it had no business voting in.
Here’s what I’ve learned the hard way, more than once: survival seasons have a sneaky way of making ‘what-seem-right’ type of decisions feel like wisdom. “I need more work” sounds so responsible. More mature. So biblical, even.
And sometimes it is the right call.
But sometimes it’s just fear wearing a really convincing disguise — and you don’t find out which one it was until you’re three months deep into stress you never needed to carry in the first place.
No matter what your survival season may look like, one thing I have learned about them is they will hand you a hundred decisions that sound like wisdom and feel like control.
So here’s the Holy Habit I keep having to learn on repeat: it’s not about ignoring the pressure. It’s about learning who gets to lead when the pressure shows up — panic, or God.
The Lord kept speaking, “Come into the secret….” where I literally wrote Psalm 27:8 on a piece of paper and put it up in my office so I could see it on repeat:
“My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’”
That was the invitation.
Come closer. Draw nearer. Make room during this survival season I’ve been walking in.
And instead?
I added more work.
Where’s my award for ‘flop’ of the year. LOL!
Here’s the aha moment buried in that: the pressure was real. The need was real. The unknown was real. All of it — completely real.
But real pressure still does not get to be my leader.
Something can be one hundred percent true and still not be the way God is leading you through it.
That’s where Psalm 31 comes in.
As we head into this new season of Unveiled Roots (Podcast), I keep coming back to this thought of our root system. Survival seasons do not just show us what we’re facing. They show us what we’re actually trusting. Oof, that hurts!
They expose whether our roots are going down into Christ, or reaching sideways for control.
David opens this Psalm in a full-blown survival moment:
“O Lord, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced. Save me, for you do what is right. Turn your ear to listen to me; rescue me quickly. Be my rock of protection, a fortress where I will be safe. You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger. Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you alone. I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.”
David is not pretending the danger is not real. He’s honest. He needs rescue. He needs a rock. He needs a fortress.
But here’s what gets me every single time I read this — where does David run first?
“I have come to You.”
Before the plan. Before the panic-fueled side hustle. Before the Martha moments. Before the next thing he could grab for control of, he runs to God first.
Then he says, “Lead me.”
That’s not a small ask.
“Lead me” means I am not asking You to bless the decision fear already made for me. I am not asking You to make my panic look spiritual. I am not trying to carry something You never handed me in the first place. Lead me means letting go.
He goes onto say, “I entrust my spirit into Your hand.”
That, right there, is surrender.
And can we just sit in this for a second? Surrender sounds so soft, even sometimes sounding like it’s weak, but what it really is, is warfare.
Because the battle is not only what’s happening around you. Sometimes the real battle is your grip. Your need to control. Your fear of lack. Your compulsive need to have it all figured out before you’ll obey.
I saw that in myself in humbling technicolor.
I thought picking up all that extra work would give me peace. Instead, it pulled me further from the deeper place God was actually inviting me into.
And here’s the thing — the money I made over those six months of white-knuckle striving was so small that, looking back, we wouldn’t have even noticed if I hadn’t done it at all.
Is that not crazy!
But get this - the moment I let it all go, yes, I was afraid of the unknown but let me tell you about my Jesus! About three weeks after I finally laid all that extra work down — God started providing side projects that legitimately blew our minds.
One project. Just two weeks of work.
It brought in what I had made over six entire months of unnecessary striving.
Because here’s the lesson underneath the lesson - or the deeper root beneath the root: I never needed to panic in the unknown.
The unknown is still there, by the way. We’re still walking by faith. But I can look around right now and see God’s hand absolutely everywhere.
He has been so amazingly good to us.
Survival seasons are not meant to train us to panic. They are meant to train our roots to trust.
What to learn:
Come to God first.
Ask Him to lead before you react.
Entrust yourself into His hands before you pick that weight back up.
Let’s land this on on Psalm 31:24, and this is where it gets really good:
“So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!”
Here’s an aha moment for you — in the Hebrew, “be strong” does not just mean grit your teeth and push through. It carries the idea of being strengthened, fortified, repaired, helped, and made firm.
I love that so much, because it means God is the One doing the strengthening.
He repairs what survival wore down. That’s so good!
“Be courageous” points to a heart that is strengthened, alert, bold, and made firm. And “put your hope” carries the idea of waiting, trusting, staying, and remaining with expectation.
So Psalm 31:24 is not saying, “Try harder. Fake it till you make it. Be tough enough to survive.”
It is saying, “Let your heart be strengthened in Christ. Stay anchored in hope. Wait with expectation. Do not let fear lead you.”
And here’s the part I cannot stop thinking about: courage is not always a feeling God drops on you while you sit around waiting to feel brave enough.
Courage is something you choose.
Look at the order of that verse again. It does not say, “Feel strong and courageous, and then put your hope in the Lord.” It says be strong and courageous — a decision, an action, a stepping forward.
And the strength often shows up inside the moving, not before it.
I don’t know about you, but that is not how I want it to work. I want to feel brave first. I want the fire to show up gift-wrapped before I take the step, so I already know I can handle whatever is on the other side.
But that has never once been how Scripture describes courage.
Not with Joshua.
Not with David.
Not with anyone who has ever had to walk into something they could not see the end of.
Courage is rarely ever a feeling you are handed. More times than not, it is a choice you make with shaking hands — and the strength, the fire, the fortified heart that comes from the Lord is what meets you inside the obedience, not before it.
I have had to choose courage more times this year than I can count, without one single shred of feeling ready for it.
And every time — every time — the strength did not show up until I moved.
Not before.
So here’s what I want you to walk away with today: when you are in a survival season, practice coming to God before you react to the pressure.
Before you pick up more.
Before you say yes out of panic.
Before you make the decision that looks right but does not carry peace.
Pause and pray, “Lord, lead me.”
Give Him your honest surrender before your feet start moving.
And when you get to the place where courage is required, don’t wait to feel ready.
Choose courage first.
Shaking hands and all.
Let Him strengthen you as you go.
Holy Habit
Holy Habit Scripture
Psalm 31:24 — “So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!”
Additional Scriptures to Focus on This Week
Joshua 1:9 — “This is my command — be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 27:14 — “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
2 Timothy 1:7 — “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Think About It
Where am I letting survival pressure lead me instead of letting God lead me?
What am I carrying, adding, or controlling that God may actually be asking me to surrender?
Practice the Habit
This week, before you make a decision out of pressure, stop and pray Psalm 31:3:
“Lord, lead me.”
Then ask yourself:
“Is this even mine to carry?”
Sit with that for a second. Let the Holy Spirit search the roots. Sometimes what looks like wisdom is really fear in a disguise, and sometimes surrender is the strongest, bravest move you’ll make all week.
And when you find the place where courage is required, don’t wait to feel ready.
Choose courage first.
Shaking hands and all.
Let Him strengthen you as you go.
Love this and very timely for me. Thank you for sharing.