God Is Our Strength
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
Psalm 27:1
Because it is a fact that the Lord is my light and my salvation, why should I be afraid? The Scripture reference is a statement of fact followed by a question.
Is the comic strip and movie character Superman afraid of anything? No, because he has superhuman strength. For the Christian, the Lord is our strength (Psalm 28:7), and the Lord fears nothing, so why should we be afraid? The Scripture also declares that God is a “very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
A friend tells the story of having spoken one evening at a church service inside a prison. It was New Year’s Eve, and as he and his wife drove home from the prison at one o’clock in the morning, the car developed engine trouble and stopped.
Despite their efforts, they could not get it going. They were stranded in a remote area with no telephone and the cold wind adding to their distress.
As they wondered what to do, a car came along and stopped. The driver offered to take them to a telephone where they could call for help. The car happened to be a yellow Rolls Royce. God also has a sense of humor!
God is able—indeed, He is eager—to deliver us from all sorts of trouble. He wants to give us strength to overcome the temptation to sin, which separates Him from those He loves.
We do not have to sin. God will help us overcome it. But we have to ask for it, and we must stay close to God so that He can give us His strength.
When was the last time you asked God to deliver you from some temptation and then determined, with His help, to succeed?
Our Father and our God, You are my strength. You are my anchor in troubled waters. You are my Light in this dark world of sin. Because of Your love and grace, I am not afraid to live. I am not afraid to die. Deliver me from the devil’s temptations and subtle tricks to win me away from You. Help me to stay close to You through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).