Today’s Word Is STRENGTH

After you have made it through a tough time, a stressful deadline, a challenging crisis, or maybe just made it through the day, hopefully you get a chance to relax and breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe you begin to reflect on how this all worked out, what you learned, and where  the strength came from. As believers, we should know that giving ourselves the credit doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Listen to King David after a victory against an enemy:

I love You, 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)

When King David says, ”I am saved from my enemies,” he means the battle is over and we won! Yes, we. Through it all, the Lord is our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer.

How good are you at giving God the credit? It is much easier to quickly acknowledge and thank him when we have started out confiding and trusting in him, asking for guidance in the morning and throughout the day. I have made much progress over the years, but I still sometimes find myself seeing a problem or opportunity and just taking off with my own solution. Carrying on that day-long conversation is a great habit, which can keep me from being too hasty and disregarding my greatest source of strength. Then when the job is complete, problem solved, success achieved, victory won – I am more prone to give thanks to God my Father for the strength.

A famous Budweiser commercial shows a young colt alone in the barn beside the huge wagon that the older horses pull as a team. He steps under the harness, puts his neck in place and tries to pull. At first it doesn’t budge. He pulls harder – then suddenly the carriage moves forward, and he starts walking!

Obviously, he is thinking – wow, I’m really doing it! Then the camera angle widens and you see that the wagon is being pushed from behind by one of the huge Clydesdales, which I take to be his Dad.

So it is with you and me. Whether small or large, the things we accomplish are made possible by the God who is helping far more than we often give him credit. It is actually by his strength that we accomplished anything.

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” – Jesus (John 15:5)

Give thanks and give credit,

Chaplain Mark