So the other day, we were helping with manual labor for ministry. From 9am to noon we helped carry bricks from a pile on one end of the property to the other end where they were building a new bathroom for the school. Now, I’m not the strongest person, so in order to carry those loads of heavy bricks, I kept saying in my hear “The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength”, and whenever I started to feel tired or weak, I would always go back to that. We only helped with manual labor for half of the day, but it doesn’t take long to get tired in the African sun.
After we finished working I was getting ready for our upcoming church services, and I was praying to god asking what He wanted to speak about, and He said to talk about strength, and I was a little bit like “really, Lord? I am that last person you would want to talk about strength. I don’t know anything about that. I don’t feel strong physically, spiritually, or emotionally. Why do you want me to share about that?”But then God reminded me that that’s exactly why I need to talk about it, because I constantly have to call on the Lord for strength, just like that morning when we were carrying bricks. But even for people who may think they are strong in the grand scheme of things, none of us are really that strong, and we always need to turn back to God for true strength. Jeremiah 17:5-8 says
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Well, that’s quite a mouthful, but it’s true. God gave us our human bodies, but we have limits. But we serve a God who is limitless, so when we look to Him for our strength, our strength is limitless, too!
But how to we tap into this strength? What do we need to do to be filled with the strength of the Lord? Well, in the Bible, it shows us a few different ways:
- Prayer
“Then Samson prayed to the Lord, ‘Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.’ Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left on the other, Samson said ‘Let me die with the Philistines!’ Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived” Judges 16:28-30
Now, in order to understand just how powerful of a tool prayer is, we need to backtrack in the story a bit. When Samson was born, God blessed him with incredible strength, but under one condition; that he would not cut his hair. When Samson grew up he became a strong warrior because of this, and the surrounding nations feared him, and wanted to find the secret of strength so they could defeat him. He ended up telling Delilah, a Philistine woman, his secret, and when he told her, she cut his hair, and then he was attacked and overcome by Philistines. He tried to fight them as he did countless times before, but his strength had left them, and he could not defeat them. They gouged out his eyes and carried him to their city as a trophy. In this passage, we find Samson blinded and humiliated in the middle of the Philistine’s celebration of their victory over Samson. Now, even though Samson was disobedient to the Lord by telling someone the secret of his strength, the Lord was still faithful when Samson prayed to Him for strength one last time.
God didn’t have to do that. Samson clearly broke the one rule God had given him in order to keep his strength. God could have let Samson suffer for his disobedience and sent someone else to defeat the Philistines, but He didn’t. Countless times in the Bible, God shows grace to His people when they turn to Him in prayer, so it’s no surprise that even when Samson’s flesh was failing him, when he turned back to God, God answered His prayer and gave him the strength to defeat the Philistines. We have this same access to God. Whenever we feel overcome by our circumstances, and it seems like there is no way out, when we pray to God, He will be faithful and give us the strength we need to persevere.
- Worship
”After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: ‘Give thanks to the Lord for His love endures forever.’ As they began to sing and praise, the Lord sent ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” 2 Chronicles 20: 21-22
In this battle, King Jehoshaphat used worship as a weapon… LITERALLY! AND IT WORKED! This is the power we have when we worship in the name of God. All of the evils of this world tremble at the praises of the one true God and at the name of Jesus. When we praise the Lord, the foundations of the kingdom of darkness tremble, and God gives us the strength through His praises to overthrow all of the armies of hell. When we give God the glory, sickness, demons, and death have to flee.
- Faith
“David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.’ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.” 1 Samuel 17:45-49
David didn’t do anything extravagant to win this battle. He didn’t pray a noble prayer or sing a song. He just boldly declared the faith he had in the Lord. Sometimes, we don’t have to do anything more than that to get the strength of the Lord. Even though David’s human strength could not even compare to the strength of Goliath, he had faith that if God was on Israel’s side, that he would surely win. David had such faith that he knew this battle was not even his; it was the Lord’s, and God matched David’s faith by being faithful to His people, and helping them defeat Goliath.
Sometimes, we just have to believe that it is already inside of us, which it is. When we accept Jesus in our hearts as our personal Lord and savior, His Holy Spirit dwells within us, and that is what gives us strength over the powers of this world. We just need to declare and believe that we have this strength, and trust that the battles we face are in His hands, and not our own.
In these 3 passages, the strength God gives these people is for a specific purpose. There are many reasons we may need God’s strength in order to accomplish His will
- To fight our battles
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my sing I praise Him.” Psalms 28:7
In the Old Testament, God’s strength was most often used in this context. As the Israelites were trying to get to the promised land and stay there, they had to fight many battles, but God was on their side when they turned to Him. However, not all of our battles are physical. Some of them are spiritual, and through prayer, faith, and worship, God can help us defeat all of the Goliaths we may have in our lives. Those things may be anxiety, depression, jealousy, or fear. When we feel overcome by those things, we can turn to the Lord for strength, and by declaring the power of Jesus Christ in our lives, those things will no longer have a hold on us. God will help us fight those things that try to steal our joy and freedom because Jesus already won the ultimate battle against death for us.
- To display His power (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)
”But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. “ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
In the Old Testament, God showed His power through Samson. When he had been stripped of all of his earthly strength, he was still able to defeat the Philistines because of the power of God in him. Because of that, the true power of God was displayed for all to see, so all of the surrounding nations would know to fear the God of Israel. We may be weak physically like Samson, but we may also be weak emotionally, or even spiritually. It is in those moments of weakness that God can show His power, too. This is the power of testimonies. By sharing how God recused us from our situations, we can share with others how God gave us strength against all odds, therefore bringing people to the love of Christ.
Paul’s testimony was powerful. From persecuting the early Christians to spreading the gospel to the nations and being persecuted himself, even when he encountered struggles, because of what God had done in the past, he believed that God’s strength would prevail over his trials. This isn’t just true for Paul, though. It’s true for all of us. Even if you feel like you don’t have a testimony, or if you feel like you are still battling tirelessly, just look to the testimonies of Go’d power in the Bible, and in the people around you. God is still moving and is still doing glorious and miraculous things, we just have to trust that He can make beauty out of our ashes. He’s done it before, so we know he can do it again.
- To advance the church
“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11
God is worthy of all praise and glory, and He wants His name to shine among all nations so that all of His children can live in right-standing with Him. This is why the worshippers on the front line of the battle in 2 Chronicles was so powerful, because they were advancing His kingdom and giving all of the glory back to God. Today in the church, we must use our gifts with the strength God gives us to encourage those in the church and to reach those outside of the church. When we use the gifts God gives us, He will fill us with His strength to be bold and share His glory with those around us.
- To renew our faith (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.” Isaiah 40:31
Sometimes God gives us strength just to deepen our relationship with Him. When we lean into Him, He will restore our strength so we can keep on running the race of faith. This is why prayer and fasting is such a common practice among Christians. Through fasting, God shows us that when we deny our fleshly desires, we remember that we must rely on God as our source of strength. We are reminded that the temporary joys of life are nothing compared to the joy we can find in the Lord.
God wants to strengthen and encourage us, we just have to keep seeking after Him as our source of strength.
What an amazing promise we have, that God will strengthen us and keep us safe!
