“I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.” Ephesians 3
*me…attempting a workout on my own. Since this photo I have joined a local workout group with Bliss. SO MUCH MORE FUN and effective. Kinda the point about this little devotional today 🙂
Strength.
So many of us struggle to find the strength we need in the face of our challenges. Maybe it’s just been a rough day– like when our two year old has a meltdown in Target, and we think, “Lord, give me strength…This is embarrassing and I am tired.”
Then there are challenging times…like when our job is on the line or we are navigating our marriage through tough waters…and we feel like we don’t have the strength to face the difficulties that lie ahead.
Or maybe it’s even a health crisis, and we physically feel weak from the battle.
I have felt all those kinds of weaknesses…sometimes all in one day! I have felt the bone-achingly-exhaustive kind of tired that physically hurts. And then I remember that the weaknesses I am espousing, complaining about, rehearsing, or even repeating in my head (or out loud) are a result of me not realizing, remembering, or utilizing the God-given strength He has promised through the Savior that lives inside of me.
*me…as I left the house in a hurried mess for a news interview about Believe With Me yesterday morning. It was a little segment titled “Extraordinary People” that airs weekly about people in the community making a difference. Except…this particular morning, I was anything but extraordinary. Unless extraordinarily cranky counts. Or stressed. Or extraordinarily frustrated.
But I love this prayer that Paul prayed for all of us…
“I ask Him to strengthen you by His Spirit…not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength…”
Because to be honest, that’s the only kind of strength that is sufficient for the troubles we face. I have tried to get by on my own strength…and it’s not very effective.
I have tried to get by on brute strength– which personally I seem to possess in spades…and those results can be less than flattering.
No– the only strength that is effective and enduring for the race He has set any of us on is His own. Any other kind will fall completely short and leave us broken and winded by the wayside.
I’m praying with Paul and for all of us today that we would be strengthened by His Spirit with a glorious inner strength to accomplish the great tasks He has set before us. I’m praying that we would not rely on our own strength, or even try and get by on brute strength, but that we would be filled with a glorious inner strength that everyone who is a witness to our lives and our trials would see that it is sheerly the strength of our Savior who is carrying us through the challenges.
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