He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.
Isaiah 40:29
When we reflect on our lives, we can probably each identify a time when we didn’t think we had the strength to take one more step, or one more setback, or one more piece of bad news. Just because we are a strong Christian does not make us immune to these things. Even the most positive of people will have their share of knockdowns. I’m writing this message only a few hours before it posts, which is not my norm. I generally write things with a little margin. I can tell you that several people who are on the Prayer Team are in this position of looking for strength to take one more step. These are people I know well. And there are many people who I don’t know well who may be feeling the same way.
In looking up some appropriate verses for this reflection, I first found Isaiah 40:29, He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. I’m sure there are people reading this message who might take exception with Isaiah today. They might identify with the “faint” but are probably wondering where is the “power” and “increases strength.” Read on a little further in Isaiah, and when you get to chapter 55:8-9, you will read “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” The Bible is filled with stories of people who didn’t think they had the strength to go on, people whose anguish went on and on, for years and sometimes even for generations, and yet by God’s grace, people found the strength to go on, and in the end, found their reward from God.
Moses led the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years. Forty years of struggle and little movement. And when he finally got to the promised land, God told him that he wouldn’t get to enter, that it was time for him to die. We know that Moses ended up with God because it was Moses, and Elijah, who appeared with Christ at the Transfiguration, transfigured in glory right along with Him. It always strikes me as sad that Moses didn’t get to carry the ball across the goal-line into the promised land, but that was not God’s plan. And Moses ended up with God, so that disappointment didn’t really matter in the span of eternity.
Job saw his children all die, he was afflicted with bad health, and he lost almost all of his possessions, and yet he stayed faithful to God, even though he complained a lot along the way. If you read the book of Job, the first couple of chapters detail all the afflictions of Job. The next thirty-eight or so recount the lament of Job, but also his faith. And the last two chapters are God’s reward for Job’s faithfulness.
Jesus, the Son of God, after three years of ministry and miracles, found Himself alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying to God the Father to let the cup of suffering pass Him by. His disciples, His friends, who He asked to “watch” with Him, they fell asleep. He didn’t ask for them to do anything but help Him not feel alone and they couldn’t do that. Imagine how much that must have hurt, to not only feel the pain of anxiety but to also feel the pain of loneliness. And then God sent an angel to strengthen Him.
It doesn’t take any faith to make a journey where the outcome and all the details are known. Faith is when you aren’t sure where the journey will take you and you go anyway. Faith is when there are unexpected turns in the road and insurmountable obstacles that pop up, even ones which seem unfair and cruel, even ones that make us wonder if God is still there, or if He is even listening, faith is when you find yourself feeling like this and still find the strength to continue on.
I sometimes wonder about this verse from Isaiah 40:29: Does God really give power to the faint? Will He really increase the strength of the one who has no might? Because sometimes that person is me, and I know that sometimes it is you. And I also know that sometimes God strength is felt through other people, you are that strength for me, and I hope I am that strength for you. I know that faith is a choice, and it is a choice we have to make daily, on the good days and especially on the hard ones.
Today’s prayer is several verses from Psalm 18. What an act of faith it is to choose to offer these words, even if you can’t offer them with conviction. I know there are people reading this message who are filled with the joy of the Lord. And I know that there are people reading this message whose joy is challenged. When the Prayer Team started ten years ago, it was with the idea that members of the Prayer Team would pray for one another. Of course, with thousands of people, none of us know that majority of members, including me. But we know our stories, because they are all similar. We vacillate between days where we are convicted in our faith, and days when we scratch our heads and wonder “where is God?” I hope you can offer today’s prayer, these excerpts from Psalm 18 in one of three ways: I hope that you can offer them with conviction. For those who feel weak today, I hope you can offer them with hope that whatever you are going through will pass and there will be light and hope on the other end of the journey. And I hope if you are convicted in faith today, that you will offer these verses with a prayer for those who are having a hard time in their journey, that God will continue to be a source of strength even in time of uncertainty and sorrow. Believe it or not, even I have days when I feel weak in faith and wonder where God is. There are days that these are just words, uttered without much conviction. But one thing I know for certain, is that convicted or not convicted, strong or weak, I always show up, and I believe that’s what faith is, and I believe that God will reward faith, pouring grace on the one who is strong to become even stronger, and pouring the same grace on the weak, to fill any deficits in their strength. Keep walking, whether you are walking with confidence or trepidation. May God always give you the strength to keep walking!
I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3
In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears. 18:6
The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. 18:20
For I have kept the ways of the Lord. 18:21
The Lord lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation. 18:46
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
