From pushups to pilates and pretty much everything in between, if you search the internet for ways to build up strength you’re going to get close to two billion suggestions.
10 ways to build strength without size.
9 ways to build your inner strength.
8 ways to crush strength training.
101 techniques to build muscle fast.
It just goes on and on and on. There are new strength nutrition programs and new strength weight loss programs. In person summits, online chat groups, facebook pages, web sites. Everybody, it seems, has a great plan to develop new strength.
Today’s verse provides a different take on that issue:
THOSE WHO TRUST IN THE LORD WILL FIND NEW STRENGTH
The word in Hebrew that’s translated here as “find” is an interesting one. It can mean find, but it can also be translated as change, or renew, or even gain.
Our trust in the Lord allows us to FIND new strength as we exercise our trust.
Our trust in the Lord enables us to change the strength we have, strength that is tired and worn; and replacing it in exchange for new strength.
Our trust in the Lord is the means by which we can gain more strength than we have now.
Well, that’s exciting news. The question is HOW do we do this?
THOSE WHO TRUST IN THE LORD WILL FIND NEW STRENGTH
Trusting is a decision to stand in faith. It is a deliberate choice to stand in the expectation that God will move in precisely the best way and at exactly the right time to accomplish the very best purposes that will advance His kingdom.
The issue is this — We do not see the solution while we wait for it. And so, as we wait, the cares of the situation weigh upon our hearts. The solutions to the situations we face — OUR solutions — crowd our minds. We cannot help but think to ourselves, “THIS would be an excellent solution!” Or look at the circumstances we see and decide, “NOW is really the best time for God to move and fix this situation.”
Like young children watching their mother bake cinnamon rolls, we stand in the kitchen thinking that they look done and wondering why Mom won’t take them out now. Of course Mom knows that what may look done on the OUTSIDE is nowhere near ready on the INSIDE. And that, my friends, is exactly our problem, too.
Trusting God when we do not see the solution at hand develops our inner strength, not our outer strength. There is so much we cannot see, things we couldn’t understand even if we could see them. Trusting God while we wait replaces the strength we have, our strength that is tired and worn from attempting to solve our problems our way; and replaces it in exchange for new strength, HIS strength that accomplishes His purposes in His time for His glory.
THOSE WHO TRUST IN THE LORD WILL FIND NEW STRENGTH
The ultimate test of this strength is when the solution doesn’t fit ANY of the ideas we had. Or, even worse, any of the solutions that would appear to us as good ones. In other words, when it seems to us like God failed. Then what?
Faith – the decision to TRUST IN THE LORD – is reinforced by perspective. In the relationship between you and God, only one of you is all knowing, and truly understands what the best outcome is. Only one of you is totally unselfish in their love. Only one of you understands eternity. To put it bluntly — only one of you is GOD. (Hint: It is NOT you!)
Faith is the decision to trust in the Lord’s love when the answer He chooses is not the answer that I prefer. Or, for that matter, an answer that even makes sense to me. Trusting in the Lord is a decision to do just that – TRUST.
When I do not know how to resolve a crisis – I choose to trust.
When the answer has not yet been made plain – I choose to trust.
When the solution allowed by God confuses my understanding and even breaks my heart – I choose to trust.
Believe me when I tell you that this is not some celestial dejection, abandoning hope and “giving up.” It takes an incredible amount of strength to choose to trust when God’s plan isn’t going your way. It is not passive, but utterly active. It cannot be accomplished solely in our own strength, it requires His. And that, my friends, is precisely the point.
No loving father on earth gives his children everything they think they want the instant they think they want it. No father who truly loves his child fulfills their every whim and wish. If you knew a father like that, you’d have no respect for him.
When hiking, a smaller rise or hilltop often obscures the larger mountain. From where you stand, you might think you’ve almost reached the pinnacle; but then you crest the smaller hill and see that the largest part of the mountain is still a far ways off. From where we stand in our faith the bigger picture is also unseen. We don’t see it, but HE does.
Choosing to trust the one who sees it all builds our strength.
Choosing to trust the one who loves us with a limitless love and has chosen us to be His children is an act of wisdom.
Choosing to trust the one who upholds the entire universe by the word of His power and can accomplish whatever He determines is best just makes sense.
So CHOOSE to trust in the Lord, and let His strength hold you up.
THOSE WHO TRUST IN THE LORD WILL FIND NEW STRENGTH
