Written by Glynnis Whitwer
04/16/2018
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“‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.’ And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.” 2 Chronicles 32:7-8 (NIV)
Strength is an appealing characteristic. Strong wills. Strong arms. Strong jaws. Strong emotions. We admire them all.
We love movies with strong heroes.
We watch sports with strong athletes.
We look up to strong leaders.
Yet
with every exposure to someone strong, we can hold up our own
motivations, muscles and minds for review and feel quite insignificant
and weak in the comparison. We whisper things in our hearts that no one
hears. Things like:
If only I were that strong …
… I’d say no to the temptations that no one else sees.
… I’d follow my dream to change careers.
… I’d go to college.
… I’d be the friend/ mother/ employee I KNOW I could be.
Then
reality washes over us like a splash of ice water, waking us from our
daydream with an unpleasant start. Back to our weaknesses that seem
destined to chain us to a resigned life. Bad habits, damaged
relationships, unfulfilled dreams … that’s my life … our despairing hearts sigh.
Oh, how I know those thoughts.
For
most of my life, I’ve battled feeling weak in certain areas while
strong in others. And my inconsistencies frustrated me. I could be brave
when facing a huge project at work, but sharing my faith with my
unbelieving father? That made me feel weak. I felt strong saying no to
many obvious sins, but weak when I didn’t say no to overeating in the
privacy of my home.
And
then I read stories like Hezekiah’s, king of Judah in 2 Chronicles 32.
The story is powerful in its entirety, but verses 7 and 8 speak truth
worth repeating today: “‘Be
strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the
king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power
with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us
is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.’ And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.”
The
people of Judah looked at the Assyrian army … then looked at themselves
… and came up lacking in every way. But King Hezekiah reminded them of
what they couldn’t see: the power of God to “fight our battles.”
It’s so easy for me to
forget there’s a Source of strength available to me every moment of
every day. It’s free of charge. There is no “closed” sign in the window
of heaven. And I don’t get a pre-recorded message when I call for help.
For those who’ve chosen to
follow Jesus, God’s strength is available to us. That doesn’t mean
tomorrow I’ll be able to run a marathon, because it’s not that kind of strength. But as I ponder the type of strength God promises, a clue is found in the word “confidence” in verse 8. Confidence not in ourselves, but in God’s ability to effectively deal with any challenge I’m currently facing.
As
I’ve learned to turn to God for His strength, I’ve experienced the
courage to press on in situations when my flesh wanted to give up. I’ve
experienced hope when relationships seemed dead. I’ve experienced peace
when fear threatened to overtake me.
We serve a God of unlimited power, and yet I tend to forget and rely on my own imperfect strength. What
if instead of comparing what we can see, we trusted what we cannot see?
Could we accept that God’s life-changing power is really for us? What
kind of difference would that make in our lives?
Let’s make this personal. What if you truly believed God’s power is available … to you?
Heavenly
Father, thank You for being my strength and power. So often I feel weak
and inadequate. Thank You for reminding me I don’t have to do life on
my own. Help me look to You first when I need help, and not my own
strength (or lack of it). In Jesus Name, Amen.
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Truth For Today
Psalm 71:5, “For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.” (NIV)
Isaiah 40:31, “But those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they
will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (NIV)
Psalm 18:2, “The LORD
is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I
take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
(NIV)
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Related Resources
As
humans, we mess up … a lot. We say we’ll never do that “one thing”
again, but we do. We go back to following our feelings rather than
following God. We go back to our sin. But while we may feel far from
God, He is always close, waiting for us to return to Him. Join us for
the next First 5 study, Return to Refuge, starting May 7! Click here to learn more.
More from Proverbs 31 Ministries, here
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