THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS (PART 6)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged Me.”

Isaiah 45:1a, 5b

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When are the times you find yourself needing strength?

Maybe you going through a difficult time in your life, waking each day wondering whether you can make it? Perhaps you have even lost your zest for life itself and have wondered whether it’s even worth living.

If you’re a parent, I don’t need to tell you how challenging it is to raise children. My daughter and her husband have three and it’s a full time job to provide for and watch over them. There are times I am sure when you wonder whether or not you have the strength to meet their demands as well as the demands life places on you.

You might be dealing with an issue in the workplace with a supervisor or co-worker. Or maybe you are struggling with pay or the number of hours you are getting and you worry whether or not you have the strength to continue struggling financially, wondering where the money is going to come from to pay the bills.

You may be sick or injured, dealing with some form of temporary or chronic condition. You are just tired of not being one hundred percent and lacking the strength to continue to persevere.

Maybe you are in the grasp of some form of addiction, shackled to it and too weak to break the grip.

Or perhaps you are in a relationship that is breaking or already broken. You long to have the love you once had but find yourself losing strength to carry on. Your hope is waning and you begin to feel like it would be easier to just give up then to try and turn it around.

In all these situations and others similar to it, maybe ones you are going through this very moment, the Lord has something to say to you:

“I will strengthen you.”

Friends, we aren’t strong enough to handle the things that life brings our way. We think we are but we aren’t. And the only thing that happens when we try and handle our own problems by our own strength, is that those burdens eventually weigh us down so much that we can’t stand under the weight of them anymore. We collapse under the pressures that are on us, unable to handle them alone.

It would be so much easier if we could come to the understanding that the apostle Paul had for he said he found the secret to be content in whatever his circumstances, whether in good or bad times.

How did He do it?

Praise God he didn’t keep it a secret for Paul tells us this:

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 (NLT)

Did you catch that?

Paul said that he could do everything through the strength given him by Christ.

Not just some things. ALL things.

You see, the Lord has said that He strengthens. We see that in our scripture from today as the Lord tells Cyrus that His strength would be with the king as He is sent to overthrow the Babylonians. The Lord would give Cyrus just what he needed to ensure that His will would be done. There was no need for Cyrus to rely on his own power.

The truth of the matter is that the Lord is the only true source of perfect strength we can draw from. I mean, why would we want to look anywhere else than the omnipotent Lord God Almighty, the Maker of all creation? Who else can do what He can?

So when life gets you down and you wonder if you can go on, the Lord says, “I will strengthen you.”

When your kids have left you worn out day after day after day and you’re not sure you can get through another day of parenting, the Lord says, “I will strengthen you.”

When you’re having problems at work, whether with your job or the pay you are receiving, and you find yourself so frustrated and stressed, you don’t know if you can continue, the Lord says, “I will strengthen you.”

In the middle of sickness or recovery from injury or surgery, when you wonder if you’ll have enough energy to make it to and through tomorrow, the Lord says, “I will strengthen you.”

Entrapped by addiction, you don’t have the power to break through on your own and rid yourself of your compulsions but the Lord says, “Hang in there. You will get through this because I will strengthen you.”

And when you find yourself in a failing relationship, wanting to just surrender the commitment you made, turn to the Lord for His power and hear Him say to you, “I will strengthen you.”

In the end translation, we simply cannot make it through this thing called life without the Lord’s strength. Trust me when I say from experience, that you shouldn’t even begin to try and make it on your own. Instead, use Paul as a role model and, like him, find your own way to be content, no matter your circumstances. For the Lord’s strength is just a prayer away and through Him, we can do make it through and overcome anything.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com