02/22/2019
As we struggle through life, where do we look for our strength? Do we exercise our own bodies? Do we read self-help books to give strength to our minds and characters? If so, how is this working out for you? When we depend on our own devices, or books written by other men for our strength, we are never as strong as when God’s strength courses through us.
“The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),”
Genesis 49:23-24 ESV
Have you ever faced a mighty challenge? Perhaps it was a physical one, maybe an illness, perhaps a problem with a child, or something at work... whatever it is that faces you, it requires greater strength than you possess if you are to successfully confront it. Who do you look to in such times? Do you call on your family, your friends, or do you turn to other men for their wisdom and knowledge? Where do you turn?
When I was facing cancer I was getting progressively weaker. I felt sick, and my energy was being depleted... try as I might I couldn’t overcome what I was feeling. I had been going to a medical specialist for two years, and tried googling my symptoms, but nothing in the wisdom of either my specialist, or those searches, produced help as I attempted to overcome what I was experiencing. Then I began to fervently pray in earnest, I told the Lord how I needed His help, and His strength in my life. I pleaded for His healing touch to remove the pain. The next week I went to my primary care physician for a routine physical, and in the course of that visit this man did what the specialists had not been able to do... he diagnosed my illness, and with great haste sent me to just the right physician for treatment. In less than three weeks a cancerous tumor was removed from my body, and my strength began to return. Today I am cancer free and strong. God interceded, and where the specialists had failed, he gave my Internist the ability to see my illness. Where I had once needed a technician to hold my arm and steady me as I walked from the imaging room, and later a nurse to help me into my car following surgery, I was now growing in strength every day. Such is our God!
In our opening scripture, we read as Jacob was blessed his sons, and these verses were a portion of that blessing he was giving to Joseph, but it is a mighty one, and good for us to read because it speaks to the source from which we should derive our own strength... from God, “the mighty one of Jacob.”
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.”Psalms 121:1-5 ESV
God acts personally on us when we call out to him. In Genesis we read where “his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One”, and in Psalm 121 we read that “the Lord is your shade on your right hand.” God does more than just send a magical mist, or delegate the task to an an angel, He places His arm on our arm, and His hand on our hand. When we ask for strength we receive the strength of God Himself. To the unbeliever it was my Primary Care Physician that placed his hand on me and felt the tumor within me, but I knew differently... God’s hand guided His, and as for the arm of the imaging specialist that slipped around me and helped me as I walked out of her office that day it was the arm of God, and as for the strength of the nurse who helped me into my car following surgery, and patted my hand as she told me it would be alright, it was more than just her strength and love... it was God’s.
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.”Isaiah 40:28-29 ESV
So we should turn to God for our strength; whether it is physical, mental, or spiritual strength that we require... He is there and His mighty hand strengthens us. His hand gives us the ability to do His will. Maybe we need His strength to face life, or to endure death, but whatever the need be... He is with us.
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”1 Peter 5:10-11 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your mercy, grace, and unbounded love and strength. I call on you Holy Father and in that moment of need I feel your hand upon me. I thank you Lord for placing your arm in mine, and your hand atop my hand as I pray for others, and touch them with the strength of your mighty hand. I know Father that your will flows in me during those times, whether your touch is for me, or flows through me to another by the laying on of hands... your strength lifts us up. Help us in our faith Gracious Lord, and remove all doubt that might give glory where none is deserved. Let all know that it is your hand that heals us, your hand that strengthens us, and your strong arm that defends us. No strength of ours, and no wisdom of man can compare to yours, no love is so deep, and no mercy so complete... oh that we would turn to you always in our destress, and need. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose strength is made perfect in us. Praised be your name, and all glory be yours forevermore.
Rich Forbes