“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10 NIV
Do you struggle with strength? If God says, “Be strong”, where does He expect me to find that strength? Does He expect me to generate strength on my own? Of course not! But where does your strength come from?
There is so much wrapped up in God’s command to be strong. You and I tend to try to obey the command to be strong by looking within — to our own resources. But what if we approached it differently? What if we approached it by looking out and looking up?
As I have worked on making this my practice, I have found some things to be true that I hope will encourage you.
The strength doesn’t come from you. I think this is the hardest thing for humans to accept and walk in. Let’s be honest. We all like to think that we are strong enough to handle things on our own. That’s why we can be so down on ourselves when we feel like we aren’t. The need to find that strength within is the very situation that caused me to turn to God at the very beginning of my walk with Him.
I had been trying to handle overwhelming emotions on my own. I had been attempting to solve all my own problems because I thought I was supposed to. But I couldn’t. To the point that I fleetingly considered throwing myself in front of a speeding car! That fleeting thought was my wake-up call. I finished walking home to my rented room, got down on my knees, and cried out to God for help. Then the strength came. It didn’t come from me. I needed God, and when I called on Him, He gave me what I needed.
That’s the way it works, my friend. God wants to give you everything you need for whatever you are going through. Even believers have to remind themselves to call on God!
Being strong starts when you decide to abide. Reminding myself to call on God is a choice, right? I have to want to remember to remind myself in the first place! We often use the term “abide” to describe staying connected to Him. The term comes from the gospel of John, chapter 15 verse 4. The word means to remain. To remain in Him. Here is that verse in the New Living Translation:
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
To abide is to live connected like a branch remains alive connected to the vine. Unlike a branch that just grows connected, you and I need to decide to stay connected. We need to decide to abide. That means it is our choice to receive all the strength that flows from the vine. When we abide everything that is in the Vine flows into us. All the strength, peace, joy, wisdom…LIFE. To be strong with His power we must decide to abide.
How are you doing with that? No matter what happens in my life, that is my desire. However, I get distracted trying to find the answers to all my questions within myself or in the myriad of external resources that are available in this information-age world. I can find myself looking everywhere else than to Him. That’s when I need to remind myself that the strength I need becomes available to me when I decide to abide.
Being is a state of existence. To be or not to be strong in the Lord? That is the question. (Sorry, Shakespeare! I couldn’t resist!) To be strong is to simply exist in a state of strength. To be strong in the Lord is to exist in a state of strength that resides in Him. So, what does that mean and how in the world do we do it?!
When God tells you and me to “Be strong” He is saying, “I am going to fill you with the strength you need. I am going to empower you to meet this challenge and do this work.” To be strong in the Lord is to walk in expectation that He will do just that.
When I walk in the expectation that the strength I need is flowing from my connection to God, I can walk with joy and then that joy adds to my strength. The joy of the Lord IS your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10) Joy is a fruit of His Spirit, His active presence in my life. If I am going to have joy, it is going to come from staying connected to Him. That joy will be my source of strength.
If I am facing a challenge and need to be content, then I can be content through Him. Through Him – As I stay connected to Him, His ability will flow through me. Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) He also said, “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
My friend, I know that what you are facing seems like more than you can handle. You feel weak and insecure. But you can do this. You can be strong. If you couldn’t it wouldn’t be a command. If God is telling you to be strong in Him, then He will give you what you need to do it. It doesn’t come from you. Decide to abide and BE strong!
Key Question: How do you find the strength you need?
A Scripture to Consider: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10 NIV
A YES Challenge: Take time to recognize the ways that you look for the strength you need within yourself. Choose a trigger that will remind you to decide to abide.
Prayer: Father, it is so easy to forget to call on You. I have such a habit of self-reliance! I don’t want to rely on myself. I am not strong enough to do what I need to do without You. I need Your strength. I need Your joy. Help me to remember to remain in You, to stay connected to You. Then I will have what I need, and I will be able to BE strong in You and Your mighty power. Amen.
