To Be Strong

There is a great need to be strong today. Not just having physical strength to meet the many demands in our lives, but the emotional and spiritual strength as well. Have you noticed how hard and impossible things look when you feel weak? And there are many things that make us weak...

      - poor health

      - poor habits

      - the problems from our past

      - the obstacles before us

      - someone else's failure... or our own

      - the never-ending needs

I'm sure you could add more to the list. But looking at the obstacles just weakens us more. Optimism, determination, denial all may work for the short run. But if we aren't facing the real need, then we will never have real strength. And the reality is that we don't have what it takes – no matter how much will power or positive thinking we exert.

Recent reports from the ministry in Makindu remind us that we all face the same need. Brother Lawrence has faced weakening illness, discouraging failures of others, continuing crises and calls for help... all demanding more need of strength. Yes, we want to solve the problems and see real success. But the reality is that we don't have enough power or resources. 
 

I'm so thankful for another reality that gives us reason to hope: “...but the people that do know their God shall be strong” (Daniel 11:32). Did you catch the significant “know” in there? We usually know quite a bit about our troubles. We have learned ways to deal with them – and we know where our limits are. But these things don't make us strong. They just inform us about our weakness.

Do you know the God that is strong? Do you know Him as your God? This is the key after all. When I feel a need of strength to face my day, my problems, my impossibilities, do I look to God as my answer? Do I know Him as my answer? Someone has said, “He will be God of all, or not at all” and there is some truth to that. Especially when it comes to us experiencing His power.

God shows His might in the daily sunrise, in the enduring mountains, in the crashing waves. At a personal level, we live and breathe at His command. But to know Him as our God, as the Almighty Answer for today's problems and needs, we must get more involved than that. We must personally turn from all other solutions. We must stop worrying and reasoning. We must be still and know He is God. The All Powerful. The I AM. The All Knowing. The Everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace. The Lord of Life and Light. For me. For you.

“And therefore will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you; and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you. For the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18)