Strength

Let me start this by telling you that I promise to always be honest with you. In our monthly “meetings” my prayer is that the Lord would speak through me and that I would be an open and willing vessel to be used for His reasons and purpose. I pray that throughout our journey together your love for the Lord is revived and/or strengthened and that you grow closer to Him daily. May we always “look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 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.
--Isaiah 40:28-31

Today was one of those days that I have had to speak this truth to myself throughout the ENTIRE day. Have you ever had days like this when all day long you are thinking, “how much more can I handle?”  Days like this are filled with missed appointments, late starts, gas tanks that seem to hit empty without warning and clothes that do not seem to fit right. These are days when you go to gym ready to work out and end up walking around aimlessly. This is the type of day when you are so sure you are going to start and stick to that new meal plan but by lunch you have munched on a handful of M&Ms, “supported” Mary as she spilled out her heart about her latest break up over a double chocolate sundae and you then “sampled” that new flavor of not-so-fat-free birthday cake in the break room.  You started with the best intentions but by mid day you are worn down and all your strength has been thrown out the window as you are bombarded with the realities of life.  These are days when the ONLY thing you have to hold onto is the Lord’s promise that he will not give you more than you can handle. (1 Corinthians 10:13) But let’s stop and think. Why was it so easy to give in? Why did it seem better to cave in and decide to start the next day instead of staying strong today?

    Two questions come to mind. In what is your strength grounded? With what are you filling your body? Let’s tackle the latter question first. With what are we filling our body? When I say “fill” I mean this on both a physical and spiritual level.  It is proven that if we are not consuming well balanced meals throughout the day and only eating junk food, we are not able to function at the highest or healthiest level possible.  Junk food does not contain the nutrients that our bodies need to stay healthy and function properly. The high levels of sugar in the food we consume put our metabolism under stress and cause our blood sugar levels to spike. Soon after this spike, there is a sudden drop in the sugar levels because of the lack of adequate proteins and carbohydrates. As a result, you often feel sluggish, hungry and craving more junk food and the cycle continues. The same is true with exercise, when we participate in at least 30 minutes of exercise a day it helps combat depression, weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle that can lead to serious health problems including obesity and diabetes.  When we live and try to work at this level we are not able to serve to the best of our ability as we have been called. On a spiritual level if we are not “filling” our hearts, minds and souls with the God’s Word, our “bread of life, we are functioning at a spiritually anorexic level and are not able to combat all that will come at us daily. Just as someone who is malnourished we begin to weaken and gradually head towards an unhealthy lifestyle that is not conducive to living the vibrant life we have been called to. (John 10:10)   

Let’s take a look at the first question, in what is your strength grounded? Are you the type of person who prides themselves in what I call the “bootstrap method”? Under this method, YOU have worked your way out of hard times, YOU have lost the weight on your own, and with self discipline YOU have made it to the gym each and every day for a month. You have set fitness goals for yourself and attained them. YOU have run that last mile, with sweat dripping down your face, and when all you want to do is quit, YOU pushed through.  As you pass by that piece of cake, mouth watering, day dreaming of how good it would taste, YOU kept on walking. Where does your strength come from in times like this? Are you depending on your own strength, your own devices, and your own determination?  What happens though, when you reach the point of utter exhaustion when you feel like no matter what you do you are trying in vain? When you realize all the calories you cut back on, and each mile you ran was all done with human strength; a strength that is failing, a strength that will not last. There will come a day when our bodies fail us, when the  aching knees that once helped us conquer mile after mile, only remind us of our own weakness. When we are no longer able to overcome the cravings and all that we deprived out bodies of will end up being devoured. You see, human strength is fleeting. In Isaiah, it tells us that our Creator, the one who fashioned us DOES NOT grow weary or faint. That those who hope in Him will have their strength renewed. When our strength is grounded in the Lord, he meets us in our weakness and covers us in His might and raises us above our circumstances. He leads us in an everlasting strength and love that never fails, that is eternal and that renews daily.

 So my friend, where do you find yourself on days that seem to go wrong? Do you find yourself relying on your own limited strength that will surely let you down or do you find yourself soaring above it all on the wings of eagles with our Lord’s hand guiding you?  Listen closely; hear his soft voice whispering “My child, do you not know? Have you not heard? I AM the LORD the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. I will not grow tired or weary, and my understanding no one can fathom. I give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in ME 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.”

IN HIM,
LOLLY B

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