Strength and Peace

"The Lord will give strength to His people;

The Lord will bless His people with peace."

Psalm 29:11

I look at the mountains around me and I see rock hard strength. And yet these mountains with all their strength can't compare to the strength God gives to His loved ones. Just when we think we can't take one more step, He gives us the strength to do so. He gives us the power we need to move forward when everything looks hopeless. And therein lies the peace that we long for. This is a crazy, hectic world we live in and trouble abounds. But don't give up. Run to the One who has the strength to see you through this day, and the next and the next. And rest in the peace that comes from knowing that victory doesn't depend on you or your feelings. It depends on the Lord who gives strength to His people. He never fails.

My Strength

"The Lord God is my strength,"

Habakkuk 3:19

The mountains that surround the valley where I live are like a fortress. Majestic and strong. They remind me of my God. The very One who created those mountains and gave them their strength gives an internal strength to those that turn to Him. In the worst of times He is their solid rock. Their Mighty Fortress. A never ending reservoir of strength. "If you attempt to gain all of your strength from your education, relationships, money, power, authority, or intellect, or any other idol we pursue more than God, at some point you will grow tired and lose heart.  At some point your strength will be lost.  But those who draw near to God no matter what happens in their lives find a reservoir in God to draw from that is never ending. " (David Fairchild)

When We Are Excessively Burdened

"For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, 

but in God who raises the dead; "

2 Corinthians 3:18

Paul writes of the trials he and his partners in the gospel endured in Asia. Things were so bad that they were "burdened excessively, beyond [their] strength." Imagine being so downtrodden that you would even despair of life. In other words, you wished you could just die. Perhaps you are at that place right now. Things are so bad that you would rather go home to the Lord than stay here. But consider what Paul goes on to write to the Corinthians, that the despair they felt brought them to a place where they would have to trust in God and not trust in themselves. For only God can raise us out of the depths of despair -- take us out of a death sentence and restore our spiritual and emotional life. But even more, if we do suffer to the point of death, we are assured that death has no hold on us. We will rise again by the power of God. It is He who raises the dead. "Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)

The Exalted One

"Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength; We will sing and praise Your power."

Psalm 21:13

Psalm 21 is David's song of praise for what God has done: He has delivered his people from the hands of their enemy. And David looks forward to what God will do in the future. He will continue to rescue His beloved children from their enemies. We have a spiritual enemy --  Satan -- who seeks to destroy us. But he has no power over those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ. "God makes sinners willing by His grace, receives them to His favour, and delivers them from the wrath to come. May He exalt himself, by His all-powerful grace, in our hearts, destroying all the strong-holds of sin and Satan. How great should be our joy and praise to behold our Brother and Friend upon the throne, and for all the blessings we may expect from Him! Yet He delights in His exalted state, as enabling Him to confer happiness and glory on poor sinners, who are taught to love and trust in Him." -- Matthew Henry. 

The Blessing of a Trial

"He gives strength to the weary,
         And to him who lacks might He increases power."

Isaiah 40:29

When life knocks us down, our God has the strength we need to get back up again. We don't always believe this. Sometimes it takes a major setback for us to realize the extent of God's power. For it is when we are at our very weakest that we finally cry out to Him in surrender. Up until then we can fool ourselves into thinking that we are providing the strength we possess. Thank God that He doesn't allow us to stay in that state of ignorance. Although a trial never seems like a blessing, it really is. The blessing is in seeing the work of our mighty God when we are broken. It is then that we can say, "He gives strength to the weary and power to the weak."  All to the praise and glory of God.