A dose of strength

Long distance driving gives me a lot of thinking time. There is something about driving on a straight road at high speed that gets my mind going. I love driving on the highway.

As I drove back in the pouring rain in the dead of the night the wind pushed hard against my car. I had been thoroughly tired midway through my professional course. I lost focus at some point. Luckily or not so luckily, I was dragged back in to everything by a direct question.

I felt 10 years old again, like a deer caught in the headlights I sat there with my eyes wide open and embarrassment written all over my face  , I didn’t know the answer because I hadn’t been listening and there was no hiding place. The 3 minutes of not focusing had caused me to want to hibernate in to something, anything, just like a school girl.

I had to look in to my neighbours jottings to sort of save my face. I spent the whole afternoon after that trying to convince myself that it actually didn’t matter. I mean we were all grown professionals… it didn’t make me anything less than that, now ………….or did it?

There I was driving back thinking the tasks and assignments  ahead of me were enormous, I had a deadline I had to meet the next day on top of all that and lots of personal things I needed to sort out. The physical exhaustion for me this time was  palpable and for the first time in a long time I felt mentally exhausted. On top of that, the darkness, the wind and the rain swaying  my car  did not  permit me to drive on autopilot . There were road works which my navigator wasn’t able to figure out and so I missed my exit on the highway twice and had to drive for several miles   before finding another exit- but despite all this I had no choice than to embark on the 3 hour journey home.

Self-doubt started speaking to me and I had to quickly put it in its place. I found myself asking God for strength, for ability. I needed to remember that nothing is impossible to him who believes but most importantly I needed to BELIEVE that nothing is impossible to him who believes. I remembered a common saying from my childhood…’The people who have done this, who are doing this…do they have 2 heads?’

Psalm 121 vs 1-2 came back to me

I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains (The Message).

Sometimes people need spiritual strength, sometimes physical strength, sometimes mental strength and sometimes emotional strength. Sometimes the ‘strength needs’ overlap. There may be things you are wondering how you are going to accomplish or get through before the end of this year, or even next year.  The message is

Our strength comes from The Lord.

I specifically asked for strength that night and the Lord reminded me of Jude 20.

‘But you, beloved, build yourselves up on [the foundation of] your most holy faith [continually progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], pray in the Holy Spirit,’ (AMP)

I don’t know what you may need strength for just now but I do know that….

– In quietness and trust shall be your strength (From Isiah 30 Vs 15)

-The joy of the Lord is our strength (From Nehemiah 8vs 10)

-And you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (From Philippians 4 Vs 13)

My prayer for you today is that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; (Ephesians 3 vs 16).

This Christmas

Be Encouraged

Sisbee xxx