Strength And Weakness

The joy of the LORD is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:10 RSV

God’s idea of strength and man’s idea of strength are opposite one another. The Lord told Paul, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Having learned this lesson, Paul could then say, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

It is true that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. Otherwise, it would not be God’s strength, nor would He get the glory. That is why throughout the Old Testament God ordered the leaders of Israel to reduce the size of their armies, or He announced in advance the time and place of conflict and which side was going to win. God wanted the faith of man to be placed in Him and not in human armaments or physical strength. In our own lives, God wants us to be broken in spirit so that He can make us strong at the broken places.

Man likes to place his security in missiles and armies, but the world now has more nuclear weapons and more men under arms than ever before in history. Have all of these weapons, all of these armies brought more security to humanity? On the contrary, they have brought less security because man will still not trust in God.

Isaiah said, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (40:31). This is the kind of strength God is prepared to give us if we will only ask Him for it.

Do you have this strength? You can have it. Just ask!

Our Father and our God, I bow before You in weakness and frailty. Without You I am nothing; I am useless; I am hopeless. I need Your strength, O God, to live in this world of evil powers and frightening spirits. Help me to depend on You, and You alone, through Jesus, my Savior. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).