Strong Enough

Life’s circumstances seem to stretch our spiritual muscles to a point that they’re either severely fatigued or painfully torn. We find ourselves realizing that we simply do not have the strength to go on. Taking just even one more step of faith seems impossible. And it’s there, in our helplessness and hopelessness, that we find the answer to our problem . . . we need God:

“What is impossible for people is possible with God.” 
(Luke 18:27 NLT)

          In our fight of faith, we miss the point. God never asks us to walk in our own strength, but in His. He is all we need.

“The weakness of God is greater than man’s strength.”  
(1 Corinthians 1:25 NIV)

We’re not strong enough to win this fight of faith, but He is. And He never expects us to work miracles—that’s His job. Our only responsibility is to stand firm in our faith . . . and that happens in three ways:

 1)    Surrender—If you’re facing battles in life, the key is “giving up.” It’s not a surrendering to your circumstances, but a surrendering to God. If you’re sitting in the controller’s seat, God can’t. His throne is not big enough for the two of you. His Word is clear: You are only strong when you are weak. When you “think” you’re in control, you deceive yourself because God is sovereign . . . all the time. It’s when we come to grips with our inability to walk out our faith, that God is able to do a work in us and accomplish more than we could ever hope for or imagine. The paradox of our faith is that the weakest Christian is the strongest one.

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 
(2 Corinthians 12:10 NLT)

It‘s God’s power at work, in and through you, that you will find victory in every battle and the ability to take just one more step of faith.

 2)   Walk with God—Walking with God doesn’t mean getting ahead of Him or following behind. Through prayer, it’s entering into His presence and seeing Him as closest friend AND Lord. It’s walking along side of Him.  While you’re taking the journey, you are building a relationship . . . getting to know Him and learning to trust Him along the way. And you will only get to know Him if you’re listening to His Word every single day. Sunday worship just won’t cut it. We’re told to meditate on His Word day and night . . . every day, not just Sunday.

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. 
Meditate on it day and night.” 
(Joshua 1:8 NLT)

God’s Word is His voice. He’s asking you to meditate, to study, to listen to it day and night, so that you will realize He is SPEAKING TO YOU day and night. There is never a moment when He is not with you. Though the world is loud, God’s voice pierces through it. His Word, His voice, will guide you through the most difficult valleys of life. There is NOTHING to difficult for God.

 3)    Thank God— As if life couldn’t get more difficult, we find ourselves meditating on God’s Word and wondering how it is that He expects such impossible feats from us:

“Give thanks in all circumstances.” 
(1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT)

At this point, we think God may have actually lost His mind. It is difficult, at best, to offer up praise and thanksgiving when your world is falling apart. Bitterness even sets in as when it seems as though God isn’t listening to us. Our prayers seem empty and so are our hearts: We ask for healing and we find ourselves facing yet another illness. We ask for peace and the strife intensifies. We ask for provision and we find ourselves pleading for help in desperation. We need love, but hatred prevails. We strive for comfort, and God brings us to the Cross. Our pain and suffering seems in vain and hope seems gone. But we must never forget, the stone was rolled away . . . He’ll roll yours away too. And this is why we must thank God. It’s because He has assured us through His promises that He will never leave us or forsake us and that we have the victory through Christ. We can thank Him for the good AND the bad because we have no ability to actually know the difference, when we’re trusting God.

You may not be strong enough to face the circumstances in your life now, or in the future, but you don’t have to be . . . God is strong enough . . . He is ALL you need. Walk in His strength . . . not your own.