WHERE DOES YOUR STRENGTH COME FROM?

STRENGTH

“The Lord Said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midanites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.” Judges 7:2

In this scripture Gideon was in disbelief of God’s super natural powers. Earlier in Judges he was demanding miracles and extra signs. His fear was controlling what he already knew, which is God’s Word which is the greatest guidance there is- the Bible. In this picture, I was ready to quit, we had been hiking all day and were still not to our destination (75% incline the whole way). As a matter of fact, right before this I was crying because, well, I was being a huge baby, and I was praying “WHY GOD, WHY DID I DO THIS?” In that moment I felt a gentle whisper “because it will make you stronger than you were before.” Boy was God not kidding, once we got to the top, the view was breath-taking and even though it was hard, it was worth it. Just like everything else I had accomplished in my life, ever so often you have to dig down deep and rely on God’s strength within you to make it.

Self-sufficiency can be crippling and causes us to believe in our own strength. So God reduced the number from 32,000 warriors to 300, making them dramatically outnumbered just so there was no doubt it was God’s victory. As athletes we consistently put our faith in our own abilities, and sometimes we need to step back and realize it’s up to God regardless of what we may think. 

Time and time again in the bible God shows us his strength, and the pride of what happens to man when we follow our own strength. In Obadiah 1:1-21 it proves the greatest strength became Edom’s biggest weakness. They were robbing the people and believing in their sin “nobody will know” or “I won’t get caught.” God knows all of our sins, and he will always be just in his punishment. 

Humble your strengths and ask for forgiveness in all that you do, because you will mess up over and over. This shouldn’t make you feel like you need to hide from God, in fact draw closer to Him so he can change your direction. When you need that encouragement know that God is not condemning in fact he is our strength when we are weak. Satan knows that and tries to attack us on all fronts, but just like in Psalm 18:34 “He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great.” 

I promise you, nothing you have done is too sinful to come back to God. Learn from your mistakes and draw strength in him rather than yourself or the lies Satan is telling you. It’s tough out there, but your refuge is always in Jesus- remember that!

What strengths can also be your biggest weaknesses? Where do you go when you need strength?

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