Strength for the Day

     I don't know about you but I'm caught between the idea that I should be using my time for something constructive and the unavoidable truth that I'm not using my time for anything particularly useful. I don't have a fantastic job, heck I don't even have a single full time job, so there's enormous pressure to change that. Then beyond the pure pragmatism of simply getting a “better” job there's the haunting shadow of the ideal. The ghost of that dream that may never exist in your future that still manages to haunt you here in the present. Mix all this together with the modern idea of “success,” a good dose of classic male ego, and all the struggles that go along with the life of a Christian man and it can be pretty crushing and just flat out exhausting.

     I struggle with this. I struggle with this a lot. I mean -a lot- a lot. Sometimes it feels like if I'm not spending every free moment I have to make myself better for my family, or to do something for God's Kingdom, or actually writing that book I talk about, or ...whatever, than I'm just being selfish and lazy and ultimately failing at this life. I can't tell you how tired I am sometimes...

     These times, when I'm just so tired; these times when I don't want to go to work tomorrow because I feel like running away from it all and be free; these times are when I remember that my strength may not be sufficient but God's is. It is in these times that I am reminded that when He says that He strengthens us He doesn't just mean for the big task at hand. God gives us the strength to take that first breath in the morning, to get out of bed, to keep going one step at a time. It is in these times that I remember that I desperately need Him if I'm going to even try to live today.

     This man, this flesh and blood that the world sees is so very far past useless. I wonder how many of us realize this? I wonder if I really understand it. As Paul Washer likes to say, “There are no great men of God. There are only small, weak, sinful men of a Great and Holy God.” Time and time again I am confronted with the reality that I just...can't. Can't what? Anything, everything, I just can't. But I do. I get up every day for His compassion is renewed every morning. I don't need persecution or turmoil to break me, life is enough. I don't need tragedy to show me my need for God when I have the mirror staring at me every day!

     A piece of treated canvas can keep you dry, can keep you warm, can provide a place of safety in the storm. That canvas can do a lot but without a few tent-poles to hold it up and keep it in shape you'll find it is far less useful. I don't know if I have answers to my own inner problems, only that I need to pray. I need to read the Word, I need to seek God in the small things as well as in the big things. We were never promised that this life would be easy or that we would understand it. It's not, but I live for the day when it is. Someday the veil that separates us will be more than torn it will be cast aside and God will walk with men again! In that day all of my small struggles and all the tears of my brothers and sisters who have faced so much more will be gone! There will be peace, finally, peace.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

(Revelation 22:21)

More Than Humanity 3: Strength From God

     We can't fight on our own. When we face temptation, when we run up against a choice to either live faithfully or fleshly, when those moments come and we fail, it's because we tried to do battle on our own strength. We're only human and so we lack the ability to succeed in a war against evil if for no other reason than evil is within us! We are born of shadow and will run from the light given the slightest chance. Thanks to Jesus' redemptive work we aren't “cured” from sin but brought from death to life; not sick men made better but dead men made alive. We need God to get us through those difficult moments.

     Our example in this, like in all things, is Jesus. We see in the pages of scripture that while He was on earth He limited Himself. He did not exercise the full range of His Godhood so as to be a proper example and a fit sacrifice. When we see Jesus perform miracles, we often see Him praying before hand asking for these miracles from the Father. Jesus, just like we must do, sought the Father and relied on the Spirit to do what He needed to do. The primary example for our discussion today is Jesus temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-10).

     The devil appears and presents Jesus with several scenarios, different forms or avenues of temptation designed to push Jesus away into sin. It's quite fascinating that no where does Jesus simply tell satan to bugger off or even cast Him away; this of course is well within His power and authority as a part of the God-head. What Jesus does do is use the Word of God. Each time He is presented with a temptation He replies with a piece of Scripture. Jesus knew in that time that no lies can supplant the pure truth of God and that we find that truth in the Word given to us. Again, He didn't simply cast satan away but used the same resources we have available to us: the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

     We need to learn, to train ourselves to go to God and His word when we are under temptation. More than that we need to ask God to keep us aware of what's going on around us, to make us sensitive to temptation so that we recognize it when it rears its ugly head. If we continue to rely on our own strength we will never see anything more than failure. We were dead before, and dead men cannot fight a war; if we cut ourselves off from that which makes us alive in the first place what do we think will happen?

Strength for the Moment

     Your average human is not particularly powerful. Oh sure, some of us are stronger than others, and still others are stronger still. We have body builders and weight lifters with rippling muscles and taught skin. Ultimately though, that strength is lacking. We all grow old and frail or come upon a task that is just too much for our limited muscles. And what about strength beyond the physical? How do we deal with pain, overcome hardship, or endure struggle? How do you measure that strength or how do you increase it? How do you work out a muscle that does not exist?

     The Christian understands that our true strength is not of ourselves. We can go only so far and so long on our own steam and that power we do have is pretty limited. However, we are not alone. God promises to provide us the strength to carry on, to continue, to conquer. It is in Him that we find true strength and the power to persevere. Though we are called to be meek we are not called to be weak. Meekness is strength under control, power properly guided. This world and all of its issues haven't got a thing that can threaten us as we lie in the hands of God. We needn't be afraid.

“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.”

(2 Timothy 1:7-8)

     Whatever we do over the course of our lives, God is right there with us. Now if we are doing wrong that should frighten you since your actions sure aren't hidden. If your life is guided by His will however, His presence with you is a source of confidence! Our decisions can be made boldly when we understand that God is there in the details. God's plan for our lives is all inclusive and totally encompassing but it is also not for us to know. He has told us what He wants in His word, namely to love Him with all that we have. Every other choice is up to us to make and weigh against scripture. And I know that He does know those choices and has already incorporated them into the grand design but I'm talking about things from our perspective. So don't fear! Pray, read, consult those close to you and then take that first step!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

(Philippians 4:13)

     Furthermore, our enemies may be powerful but only when compared to ourselves. When measured against the might of God all their vaunted power is nothing at all. The world, the flesh, and the devil; these things need not be a source of worry or of fear. God fights for you! Really I suppose a more accurate way to understand it is that all sources of evil and pain our on a leash, going no further than their line allows. Look at ancient Israel, when they stood with God and obeyed they were unstoppable. Their comparably tiny army of normal men destroyed the military might of vastly superior forces. The size of the army and the skill of the warrior means little when backed by the power of God.

“Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.”

(Ephesians 6:10-15)

“...God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken and mountains quake to the depths of the sea, Though its waters rage and foam and mountains totter at its surging. The LORD of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob..”

(Psalms 46:1-3)

     Finally we know that God is with us in our tomorrows. Despite all the reassurance, despite all the calming truth, life can get really hard. We do have to encounter sorrow, deal with pain, battle adversity, and resist death. These are real issues and real problems that we face every day. God isn't leaving us here though, not alone, and not forever. The church has a hope that no one else can claim, a future free of despair. After the long years of our lives are spent we will find the gates to heaven open and eternity waiting for us full of joy and peace. We can make through today because tomorrow will come, a new day will dawn, and the Son has already risen.

“On you I depend since birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength; my hope in you never wavers.”

(Psalms 71:6)