Need Some Muscle

Life is tough. Some days are better than others. Take the good with the bad. Hang in there, tomorrow will be better. When life gives you lemons make Chick-fil-a lemonade.

I am sure we have all heard these sayings. Maybe we have said them to someone having a bad day. There is truth in them. Living in a broken world is not going to be “a walk in the park”.

The other day I came across this statement, “God’s goal is not our comfort, it is our character. Our character is formed in the furnace of affliction”. I took that to mean without suffering our character cannot grow. That’s a tough pill to swallow.

We all strive to be better people. (That may be why self-help books are such a money maker - for the writers and publishers.). In our desire to be better men and women, better husbands and wives, better leaders and workers, better parents and students, to just handle the ups and downs of life there has to be more. If there isn’t more, then we are just chasing our tails.

At the moment you say “yes” to Jesus, the game changes. Life does not instantly get easier. It may appear to get harder at first. But when you and I are walking with Christ we are not fighting life’s waves alone. Listen to God’s promise through the words of Isaiah, “Don’t panic. I am with you. I will give you strength. I will help you. I will hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.” (Isaiah 41:9-10)

God will give us the strength we need to overcome what ever is right in front of us! The Psalmist tells us that we “go from strength to strength”. (Psalms 84:7) Our strength is not our own, but provided by God. As we need it - God provides it!

Did you catch that last part? God’s strength in us is not collected and stored. It is provided as we need it. We just have to ask. There is a great deal of freedom in knowing we (you and I) don’t have to remember to bring “God’s strength” with us. We don’t have to save and budget it from one battle to the next.

Rest in Christ knowing His strength is there. You just have to ask!