Hope For Strength

“And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.” (Zec 10:12 AV)

Another great promise for Israel which we can also assume today.  The prophet shares the vision of the restoration of Israel and the conversion of the world.  When Jesus dispatches His enemies at the battle of Armageddon, what remains is a world that has chosen Christ as their Savior and Messiah.  This world of saved individuals will be Jew and Gentile alike.  It is at the restoration of Israel which God has promised to strengthen her.  She must go through times of purging.  She must be forced to choose between Jesus Christ or damnation.  All other choices will be expunged.  It is either God or nothing.  Once the tough choice is made, then strengthening can ensue.  For the saint today, we have made the tough choice to accept Christ.  Other issues of faith arise.  Hard times of growth are part of our experience.  Some of these times can sap the very strength of our souls.  But fear not!  As God will strengthen Israel in the future, He can and will strengthen you today.

Waiting for strength can be hard.  It often happens over time.  Rarely does strength come instantaneously.  One of the best feelings in the world is when the flu bug dies.  You have been in the bathroom for several days expelling everything in your body not attached by muscle or none.  Every orifice is a drain for that which ails you.  Violent nausea is dreaded before it happens and when it happens.  For a moment or two after one is finished, you feel great.  That is until the sick feeling returns.  The aches and pains that accompany your fever are intolerable.  There is simply no way to lay or sit that takes it away.  If you are like me, you toss and turn, moaning as the night watches pass, never truly resting from the full-on battle your body is waging against an intruder.  A miracle eventually happens.  Your fever breaks.  When it does, your initial emotional response is you are at one hundred percent.  You get up, take a shower, put clean clothes on, and strip the bed to wash the sheets.  It doesn’t take very long before you realize you are not actually one hundred percent.  Your spouse firmly reminds you that death was close at hand and it will take some time to bounce back.  She makes you sit in your recliner and makes you some toast and tea.  Nothing too big just yet.  Chicken wings are going to have to wait another day.  You are chomping at the bit to get in the car and go somewhere.  Anywhere.  Your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak.  You must take time to get your strength back up.

This is what we need to do with our souls.  When we are sapped because of trouble or trials, taking time to yield to the hand of God that we might build our strength back is not something we like to do.  Too often we head on into life without waiting on the promise.  We go with our depleted state and wonder why we are so soon on our backside.  If the LORD has promised to renew our strength, the least we can do is stop long enough to let Him.  The promise above is an awesome one.  It gives great encouragement when we are low.  We will not always be that low.  God will strengthen us.  When we do not think we can continue any longer, the LORD is right there to make it doable.  The key is yielding and trusting.  If we are out of strength, then we need to let God be God!