Be Brave, be Corageous!

Psalm 27:14

    "14 Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."

This year has been all about learning to wait patiently on the Lord for me. I've been looking for verses in my daily readings to encourage me, or teach me how to do this wait patiently thing. Sometimes I'll pick a verse to write on, or think on even, that is a "next step in the process" kind of verse. A verse that will show me how to wait, be patient or just draw closer to the Lord in general. When I read this verse I saw something in it that I had been missing before. That middle sentence drew me in, Be brave and courageous. Why did the Palmist put that there? It seems to be a "patience" sandwich! braveness and courageous sandwich right in there with patience. I take it, from this verse, that patience is not an easy thing. It looks as if the Psalmist is informing, dare I say warning, us that patience takes these qualities of braveness and courage, qualities normally associated with heroes, or warriors. In a way this verse is a little scary, but more so, this verse encourages me to understand that it's not easy to gain patience. It also encourages me that is shouldn't happen over night, so my 8 month journey isn't abnormal; or at least I want to read that last part into it!