I’m tired. No, I’m exhausted.
Be it spiritual warfare or just plain being a wife and mom, life has seemed to beat me down extra hard lately. The details don’t really matter, because we all have these times right? Times when we just want to curl up in bed with the curtains pulled and take about a twelve day nap!
The truth is, we can’t survive this life in our own strength. No matter how much of a superwoman we are, doing life in our own power will always leave us utterly exhausted and still not measuring up. We must turn to the ultimate source of unending power and strength. When we are at our weakest, we are made strong by the power of our strong, strong God (2 Cor. 12:10).
I have struggled in life, more than I care to admit, to find my strength in God and not in myself. It is hard to do for us first-born, control-loving types. It requires a certain humility that is not part of my human nature. It says, “I can’t do this, and I know You can.” The end of myself and the beginning of Jesus in me.
Laying down my control of life and letting God take over liberated me from a bondage I never even knew I was entangled in. Once I experienced this freedom, I never wanted to go back.
Laying down my control of life and letting God take over liberates me from bondage.
These five Scriptures have been a constant in my life to remind me of why I am so much stronger and well-equipped when Jesus is in control.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
God, and God alone, is my refuge and source of strength. Not other people, not the next organizational app, nothing other than God will help me in my time of trouble. God sends His strength in different ways and through different people. A friend brings me dinner when my family is sick, that is God. It’s a beautiful picture of God’s people obeying the “nudges” He gives to them to care for His church. Let us not only be thankful to that person, but also to the God who sent them.
Habakkuk 3:19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Habakkuk was a man who questioned God. He asked the questions that many of us have asked: “Why do bad things happen to people who follow after Christ?” Through his questioning, Habakkuk found an undeniable faith and strength in God. This verse is the only time, outside of the Psalms, where the Hebrew translation for LORD is used. It means yahweh ʾădōnāy – Sovereign Lord. The names emphasize the power and majesty of God. Habakkuk used the strongest names for God he knew.
I love how this verse paints a beautiful picture of how light our burdens become when we leave them at the foot of the cross. We can climb any heights available to us. We are unstoppable!
In an unsure world, Habakkuk experienced the joy and peace of serving the sovereign Lord of creation. Habakkuk questioned God concerning his work and learned that God is indeed at work. The Lord God is at work accomplishing his purpose over the earth. Like Habakkuk, we too live in unsettled times and can find strength in the God who has worked throughout history to accomplish His purpose.[2]
Psalm 118:14 The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.
This verse reminds me that God is my strength and defense, but He hasn’t always been. He has to become my salvation. I have to allow Him to be my strength. When I fight to keep control of every situation, I am not allowing God to show off His strength in me. I am depriving myself of His saving deliverance. I must remain in Him and remember each day that He has become my true salvation.
When I fight to keep control of every situation, I am not allowing God to show off His strength in me.
Isaiah 33:2 Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
Probably the most life-changing revelation in my life has been that God’s mercies are new every morning (Lam 3:23). God doesn’t ask us to save the world on this Friday morning before taking the kids to Chick-fil-A for lunch. He asks me to just take the next step in obedience. Each morning I ask Him for my daily portion of strength. Just enough to get through the day, and tomorrow He will provide just what I need. It’s a daily process of dying to myself and trusting God enough to hand the controls to Him regardless of what way the path turns.
Psalm 119:28 My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.
Last, but certainly not least, we are strengthened when we spend time in His Word. Without time spent reading the Bible, our relationship with God becomes a one-way street. We will never hear His plan for our lives if we do not look for it in His Word. For me, my time in the Word is not an hour of quiet in the morning with a cup of hot coffee. My time looks a little more like five minutes alone in the bathroom with the First 5 app on my phone. Whatever that time looks like for you, make it a priority in your daily life. You will be amazed that God’s Word never returns void (Is. 55:11).
I hope you can find strength in these passages as I have. No matter where you are in life, God is right there beside you, waiting for you to lean into Him. You are His beloved and He is always on your side!
[1] Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, p. 377). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, p. 377). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
