Finding Strength
Have you ever been low?
Not low because you are in a crawl space or army crawling under barbed wire, but LOW. Low, as in you have fallen down physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. You do not have an ounce of strength or will power to move or stop the tears. Low is a bad place to be. It hurts and getting out is trench work.
Psalms 119:25 I am laid low in the dust...
Psalms 38:6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.
A wise man, my big brother, once told me that God always gives us strength. When we ask for strength from someone much stronger than us, we are given strength and we carry on, marveling at ourselves the whole way. Sometimes he gives us enough for the moment, or the day. More often than not, he gives us JUST enough. And it can come in weird ways.
One day I was driving to school. It was nearing the end of a semester and I was exhausted and extremely low. I was driving, the radio on, coffee in hand and the tears were close to the surface. I said,
"God, I don't think I can get through this day!"
As I said this, I drove down into the valley, where there is a scenic view over the river and the city. There were scraggly barren trees on the hill and they framed and bisected the view below. I have driven that road a million times and seen it change daily during its best seasons. I never really thought it looked like much. That morning it was cold and very foggy. The landscape was frozen in a cloud. Every housetop had a plume of smoke, dotting the frozen picture with life. Yet even the smoke seemed frozen. Sunlight attempted to light up the sky, but was blocked by the fog. Yet the sun triumphed by making the clouds, the fog and the smoke, sparkle like a world of diamond dust. It was gorgeous, breathtaking and pristine. My camera was in the back seat, but I didn't stop.
That image is mine and mine alone. I know that it was made for me, to encourage me so I would have strength for that day. Not only strength, but joy as well. It lasted the day and that was all I needed. New strength came the next day. I have not seen that picture again, nor anything close to its magnificence. I don't expect to. That image was just for me and no camera could have captured it.
Psalms 22:19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
One day I was driving to work in New Ulm and had the radio loud and coffee at my side. It was about 8 a.m. and the world was just turning golden. I was sleepy and really bored with my job. It would be the same mundane tasks again. There was little variety and little inspiration, and I was very low. Then around the curve of Highway 14 there was a break in the trees. The river was on the left and a hill of trees on the right. Directly in the break in the trees was an electrical pole. Have you ever noticed the shape of an electrical pole? One vertical pole with a high horizontal cross bar. Shaped like a cross. The glorious sunshine that morning covered that electrical pole in radiant light so beautifully I stopped mid coffee and turned down the radio volume. That electrical pole was a reminder of something far more majestic and eternal than myself. I had a camera in my purse but I didn't stop. That image was just for me.
Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.
And one day I realized, I was strong again. I was no longer low. I realized I had strength I didn't know I had. I could do things I never would have done before. I could do things, brave things that were not popular or easy. Whether I tapped that strength in a hidden place inside me or if I had been given it, I do not know. If it had grown while I had been broken, I do not know, but I found strength. Really strong courage and resolve. Mental, moral, and physical strength were again within my power.
Then a new battle arose. What if I do not want to be strong??? What if being carried was easier? What if I had found that each day went by easier and was less work for me, if I let God carry me? What if the only thing keeping me from possessing strength and power was my own will. I have strength and I do not want it. I want to be weak. It takes less determination, less ambition, less fortitude, less effort.
I slapped myself and stood up straight. I had to will myself to stand up and walk again. That
phase passed as well. I found strength to be righteous and not rebellious. How human to ask for strength and then not want to use it when we at last have it again.
If you are currently low, consider yourself just hugged by someone who has been there. If you are weak, seeking strength and courage, you will find it.
II Samuel 22:33 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
Psalms 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalms 27:8 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
9/2010
Not low because you are in a crawl space or army crawling under barbed wire, but LOW. Low, as in you have fallen down physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. You do not have an ounce of strength or will power to move or stop the tears. Low is a bad place to be. It hurts and getting out is trench work.
Psalms 119:25 I am laid low in the dust...
Psalms 38:6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.
A wise man, my big brother, once told me that God always gives us strength. When we ask for strength from someone much stronger than us, we are given strength and we carry on, marveling at ourselves the whole way. Sometimes he gives us enough for the moment, or the day. More often than not, he gives us JUST enough. And it can come in weird ways.
One day I was driving to school. It was nearing the end of a semester and I was exhausted and extremely low. I was driving, the radio on, coffee in hand and the tears were close to the surface. I said,
"God, I don't think I can get through this day!"
As I said this, I drove down into the valley, where there is a scenic view over the river and the city. There were scraggly barren trees on the hill and they framed and bisected the view below. I have driven that road a million times and seen it change daily during its best seasons. I never really thought it looked like much. That morning it was cold and very foggy. The landscape was frozen in a cloud. Every housetop had a plume of smoke, dotting the frozen picture with life. Yet even the smoke seemed frozen. Sunlight attempted to light up the sky, but was blocked by the fog. Yet the sun triumphed by making the clouds, the fog and the smoke, sparkle like a world of diamond dust. It was gorgeous, breathtaking and pristine. My camera was in the back seat, but I didn't stop.
That image is mine and mine alone. I know that it was made for me, to encourage me so I would have strength for that day. Not only strength, but joy as well. It lasted the day and that was all I needed. New strength came the next day. I have not seen that picture again, nor anything close to its magnificence. I don't expect to. That image was just for me and no camera could have captured it.
Psalms 22:19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
One day I was driving to work in New Ulm and had the radio loud and coffee at my side. It was about 8 a.m. and the world was just turning golden. I was sleepy and really bored with my job. It would be the same mundane tasks again. There was little variety and little inspiration, and I was very low. Then around the curve of Highway 14 there was a break in the trees. The river was on the left and a hill of trees on the right. Directly in the break in the trees was an electrical pole. Have you ever noticed the shape of an electrical pole? One vertical pole with a high horizontal cross bar. Shaped like a cross. The glorious sunshine that morning covered that electrical pole in radiant light so beautifully I stopped mid coffee and turned down the radio volume. That electrical pole was a reminder of something far more majestic and eternal than myself. I had a camera in my purse but I didn't stop. That image was just for me.
Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.
And one day I realized, I was strong again. I was no longer low. I realized I had strength I didn't know I had. I could do things I never would have done before. I could do things, brave things that were not popular or easy. Whether I tapped that strength in a hidden place inside me or if I had been given it, I do not know. If it had grown while I had been broken, I do not know, but I found strength. Really strong courage and resolve. Mental, moral, and physical strength were again within my power.
Then a new battle arose. What if I do not want to be strong??? What if being carried was easier? What if I had found that each day went by easier and was less work for me, if I let God carry me? What if the only thing keeping me from possessing strength and power was my own will. I have strength and I do not want it. I want to be weak. It takes less determination, less ambition, less fortitude, less effort.
I slapped myself and stood up straight. I had to will myself to stand up and walk again. That
phase passed as well. I found strength to be righteous and not rebellious. How human to ask for strength and then not want to use it when we at last have it again.
If you are currently low, consider yourself just hugged by someone who has been there. If you are weak, seeking strength and courage, you will find it.
II Samuel 22:33 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
Psalms 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalms 27:8 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
9/2010
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