When we speak of Christian strength we refer to this inner fortitude which yields pertinacity and grit, to this graceful ability causing us to continue in spite of opposition and dire straits. Without it we faint on the way, sidestep our responsibilities, and teeter in the midst of the battlefield. Therefore strength is, undeniably, an indispensable constituent of the conqueror’s life.
The core of Christian strength
When God told Joshua: “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9), He was simply exhorting Joshua to consider the facts as they were and to believe that the encompassing reality was what God said it was. Hence the elementary reason why Joshua could actualize his strength was: “ … the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” It follows that it is God’s presence that makes us strong, not wishful thinking or religious workouts.
The testimony of the Scriptures
Time and again the psalmist declares that God is the very breath of our strength.
I will love You, O Lord, my strength” (Psalm 18:1). “It is God who arms me with strength” (Psalm 18:32). “But You, O Lord, do not be far from me; O my Strength, hasten to help me!” (22:19). “The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).
Accordingly, the greater our perception of Him is, the more strength are we going to experience. Of course it must be noticed that spiritual perception is related to the state of one’s heart. That’s why Job could say: “… he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9), for without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14), and the one who doesn’t see Him, i.e., the one who doesn’t perceive Him, will grow weaker and weaker.
For instance, when the Son of man took our sins upon Himself—and was thus separated from God the Father—the prophetic words have Him saying: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd” (Psalm 22:15). From this we learn that spiritual strength is provided through a perceptible relationship between man and God. It is not the product of formal religiosity but rather the side effect of a union.
David was experiencing this principle when he wrote:
My strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away” (Psalm 31:10).
To seek strength with our right hand while playing with the world with the other is a futility that has led many well-intentioned Christians to frustration, and ultimately to defeat. Samson is a good example of it. He began to play with the world; got acquainted with it to the point of intimacy, i.e., through Delilah; and ultimately lost his strength when the seven locks of his head were shaved off—the locks representing his consecration as a Nazarite.
Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him” (Judges 16:19).
To flirt with the world will always have a crippling effect. It will softly drain our spirit and leave us enfeebled and anemic.
Perfected strength
Another thing to take into account is that Christian strength can be perfected.
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9).
The idea here is that divine strength gets adulterated when alloyed with human strength. Consequently, the more deprived a person is from his own sufficiency, the more uncontaminated God’s strength will be when manifested in him. That is why Paul exclaims: “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9).
The principle confirmed
Isaiah seems to point to the same direction when he writes: “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). What the prophet is saying is that God will not imbue with power the man who leans on his self-sufficiency. Therefore the person who boasts of his experience or preparation is simply cutting his own throat as far as God’s assistance is concerned. Such fellow will have to come at the end of his rope if he wants to experience divine strength, for it is the weak God fortifies, not the self-assured charismatic hotshot. That is why the prophet adds:
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
In contrast with the self-sufficient busy bee, the person aware of his own feebleness will wait on the Lord, and this, out of necessity. The words of the apostle are revealing when he writes:
I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3).
It is this debility—this awareness of inadequacy—that gives birth to a demonstration of divine power. “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:4,5).
These scriptures, and many others, attest that Paul’s strength resided in his awareness of impuissance. After all, the task God had entrusted in his hands was simply overpowering. Consequently, Paul was brought on his knees with a very relevant question: “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16), no wonder he could write:
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5).
And again:
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7).
Christian strength will always thrive in the fragile vase, and only in the unpresuming vessel will it be perfected.
If you think this post can help somebody you can share it with the options presented bellow.
