Do you ever have one of those days, or weeks, that you feel like you have to pray, "Lord, show yourself strong for me right now, because I am not feeling strong." I believe God hears those prayers of ours, prayers of desperation and earnest need. And I believe, just as this verse tells us, that when we put our trust completely in Him, and give our hearts over to Him, He does show Himself strong for us.
So what does that mean? What difference does it make in our lives when God "shows Himself strong"? Does it mean that everything automatically falls into place and whatever was causing us to drop to our knees in desperate prayer is taken care of? I think we can all say, "obviously not" to that. Because our needs remain the same, the problems don't go away, and circumstances aren't changed in the moments we utter our pleas.
But you know what is changed? WE are changed. We are given His strength as we ask for Him to show Himself strong. We become empowered through His Spirit living in us to face the problems, to get through the tough circumstances, and to do so without fear. For we are reminded, in every core of our being, that if HE is for us, then who can be against us?
God shows Himself strong as we become strong in Him. We look back and say,"How did I get through that?" And we know the answer is: GOD. God Himself became the strength that we needed, when we needed it.
When we face times of uncertainty...and there are so many areas of uncertainty in our lives right now...if we have given our hearts to God, placing in His hands our lives and our futures, all we need do is ask Him to show Himself strong in our lives. To know that, no matter what, He is with us and will never forsake us.
When we face times of doubt...and our enemy loves to throw the darts of doubt at us so that we will not be testifiers to the power of our God...we just ask our Father to show Himself strong, to take those fiery darts and to extinguish each of them before they take hold and cause us to question His plan, His very existence.
When we face times of personal crisis, death of loved ones, our own sicknesses...and those times are bound to come to each of us as we live on this broken planet...we ask God to show Himself strong, to take hold of our emotions and to remind us of His great love for us, a love that we cannot be separated from, no matter what we are going through. For He is our Good Shepherd, and He will walk with us through the valley of death and sorrow, into a place where He will anoint our heads with oil and our cup will overflow with His blessings, and we will live in the house of the Lord forever.
The only condition on all of these promises is that we are a people who have given our hearts completely to Him...have we? Are we? Every day, that is our choice. Who has my heart? This temporary world that I'm living in now, or my God, the Creator of the universe, my Lord and my Savior, my Good, Good Shepherd who opens the gate for me and asks me to follow Him?
Lord, let me make the right decision every morning as to where my heart resides...let it always be placed in Your good and gracious hands. I give my heart to You.
So what does that mean? What difference does it make in our lives when God "shows Himself strong"? Does it mean that everything automatically falls into place and whatever was causing us to drop to our knees in desperate prayer is taken care of? I think we can all say, "obviously not" to that. Because our needs remain the same, the problems don't go away, and circumstances aren't changed in the moments we utter our pleas.
But you know what is changed? WE are changed. We are given His strength as we ask for Him to show Himself strong. We become empowered through His Spirit living in us to face the problems, to get through the tough circumstances, and to do so without fear. For we are reminded, in every core of our being, that if HE is for us, then who can be against us?
God shows Himself strong as we become strong in Him. We look back and say,"How did I get through that?" And we know the answer is: GOD. God Himself became the strength that we needed, when we needed it.
When we face times of uncertainty...and there are so many areas of uncertainty in our lives right now...if we have given our hearts to God, placing in His hands our lives and our futures, all we need do is ask Him to show Himself strong in our lives. To know that, no matter what, He is with us and will never forsake us.
When we face times of doubt...and our enemy loves to throw the darts of doubt at us so that we will not be testifiers to the power of our God...we just ask our Father to show Himself strong, to take those fiery darts and to extinguish each of them before they take hold and cause us to question His plan, His very existence.
When we face times of personal crisis, death of loved ones, our own sicknesses...and those times are bound to come to each of us as we live on this broken planet...we ask God to show Himself strong, to take hold of our emotions and to remind us of His great love for us, a love that we cannot be separated from, no matter what we are going through. For He is our Good Shepherd, and He will walk with us through the valley of death and sorrow, into a place where He will anoint our heads with oil and our cup will overflow with His blessings, and we will live in the house of the Lord forever.
The only condition on all of these promises is that we are a people who have given our hearts completely to Him...have we? Are we? Every day, that is our choice. Who has my heart? This temporary world that I'm living in now, or my God, the Creator of the universe, my Lord and my Savior, my Good, Good Shepherd who opens the gate for me and asks me to follow Him?Lord, let me make the right decision every morning as to where my heart resides...let it always be placed in Your good and gracious hands. I give my heart to You.
