WRITTEN BY TIM LABRECHE
30Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, 31but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.
(ISAIAH 40:30-31)
“I’ve got this.”
How many times have you said that? It may not have been out of arrogance or cockiness, but in your own eyes, you can handle something on your own and not think to include God in the process? This example may sound silly, but it was a full-blown addiction in my life that I thought I could take care of. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to myself that I wasn’t going to drink Mountain Dew anymore. I know it’s not good for me. I know it’s detrimental to my health journey. Yet all the times I’ve said I would do it I’ve failed. It wasn’t until I surrendered it to God and asked Him for His strength that I was able to have victory over it. He is my strength in this addiction. This has been a very recent victory for me. I have been drinking Dew for about 38 years and in the past two months, since I gave that to Him, He has removed my taste for it COMPLETELY.
Have you ever determined a course of action and said you’re going to do something, and it not come to fruition, time and time again just like my unhealthy addiction above? What’s that one thing you just can’t get past? Do you struggle with gossip? Do you constantly stretch the truth to make yourself look better to others? Are you stuck in a constant pattern of stealing and can’t seem to stop even though you so desperately want to? Verse 30 shows us that even the strongest, most able-bodied person will fail. The most resolute and unyielding person will become weak. Verse 31 shows us that it’s only when we put our complete faith in God’s strength is when we will have the victory.
But there is so much more to this as well. It’s not only when we’re trying to overcome something that we need to place our confidence in our Savior. When we’re in the fire, when the situation that we find ourselves in is so much more than we think we can handle, God has promised us that he is with us. Psalm 23:4 says that “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me.” A friend of mine was once in a deep, financial crisis with his business. There didn’t look to be any way out. But he pressed in and wholly surrendered to what God would have for him, his business, and his family, in the process. There were days it looked grim. He had to let some of his key people go just to stay afloat. But as he trusted God with his situation he didn’t falter in his faith and was continually encouraged that God would provide. Over time, his Deliverer provided a way out in a way that my friend never saw coming! It emphasizes the theme of the verse that says that patient, praying believers in Christ are blessed with strength amid hardship and struggle.
Philippians 4:6-7 also showcases how God is always with us and provides to us what we need in these times. It says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Whether you’re struggling with an addiction to sugar, your business is on the brink of financial ruin or anything in-between, remember that you cannot handle it alone. You weren’t designed to. Take your requests to God and trust Him with the process and the outcome.
- Do you think that there are some things that are too small to take to God? Nothing is too small to take to Him. He cares about the smallest details of our lives. Often when we don’t take care of what we believe are trivial and small problems, they’ll turn into larger issues that we’ll need to go to Him about anyway!
- Are you struggling with your faith and having trouble seeing that God can handle what you’re going through? Confess that to Him and ask Him to work with it and to affirm to you that is undeniably God that did the work.
- Take some time and ask God to reveal if there is anything that you’re not trusting Him with. Often, we are blind to those things we’re holding on to. He is faithful to show us.
