Seeking Divine Strength is Continual

“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.  Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;” (1 Chron.16:11-12 KJB)

These words are important to me.  Especially today.  Life can become overwhelming and the troubles too heavy to bear.  It is not supposed to be that way.  Particularly for a pastor.  We are supposed to be able to handle everything that comes along.  We are supposed to handle stuff in our own immediate world plus everyone else’s stuff.  We are to have broad shoulders and plow through it all with unfailing faith.  The truth of the matter is that all of us have limits.  We can have the gift of faith, and Paul did, yet still reach the end of our limits.  We can have a love for God like David did, yet his psalms are filled with distress.  We can have the faith of John, as he sees the end of all things, yet still plead for the coming of Christ.  We can have the unbending faith of Daniel, yet still have weak moments of desperation to which only God can rescue.

God does not expect us to have the attribute of omnipotence.  He does not expect us to know and see all things.  If we could, then there would be no limits to what we could face.  The fault lies not in an inherent weakness, but what we do in the condition of that weakness.  The words above are words of David at the return of the ark to Jerusalem.  These are words of praise.  But they are also words of encouragement.  The word that jumps out at me is ‘continually’.  Thinking on the implications of that one word, it would seem the mighty warrior was mighty because there never was a time he attempted a battle in his own strength.  It would seem to me that David was David because of that one word above.  Perhaps his psalms were a manifestation of that idea.  Maybe David, through the psalms and pouring out his complaints before God, was doing just what he encourages all to do.

Seeking the strength and the face of God is not an ‘as-needed’ practice.  It is to be never-ending.  Moment by moment; trial by trial; hurdle by hurdle; deep water and shallow; we are to seek the face of God and His strength without stopping for a respite.  It may seem silly to seek the LORD’s face and strength first thing in the day.  But we don’t know what we will face.  It may seem a bit immature to always depend on God when we have some strength of our own.  David wasn’t too proud to say that he had limits.  He wasn’t too big that he couldn’t see how small he really was.  David knew that what God had called him to do was too big to handle by his own strength.  He knew that the impossible life he was to lead could only be lived by the hand, face, and strength of almighty God.  We would be wise to believe the same thing.