Renewed Strength for Difficult Times

Everyone seeks power including children, who will take control if allowed to do so. Power is not always defined by physical strength or aggression. There is power in silence, notably when the impulse to speak is overwhelming. To refrain from speaking sends a powerful message of self-control.

The spoken word encased in knowledge and wisdom is descriptive of healthy personal strength. Carefully chosen words designed to build up another person's self-esteem are powerful in the heat of conflict. The willpower required to engage at this level comes from the Holy Spirit, for he gives strength and courage to do so.

The Lord’s command that we love him with all our strength includes every fiber of our being. Even when trouble surrounds us and the strength to press onward fades, the Lord God will renew your strength. To love God with all your strength gives unparalleled power to press onward for new prerogatives, a new day, and a new beginning.  

____________                   

Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary? He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak.

~Isaiah 40:28-29 The Living Bible 

____________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

Strength for Heroic Action

Life seldom advances on a smooth continuum but alternates between highs and lows that may test our ability to cope. In the middle are the normal days when we carry on with just making a living. Even so, each person will eventually encounter situations that call for heroic action.

We’re aware that heroes are “created by popular demand,” as Gerald Johnson writes in his book, American Heroes and Hero Worship. Samson is not portrayed as a hero, yet he was God's chosen man, and it appears he may have lived his life for that moment when he gave his life to destroy Israel’s enemy. 

Samson knew God was the source of his strength, and by faith he committed his life to that truth. If you need God’s strength for what you’re facing, seek his forgiveness and cleansing, then determine to live the rest of your life for him. God will renew your strength so you can fulfill his purpose for you. His inner peace and security will be your reward. 

____________________ 

Before I was born, the Lord appointed me; he made me his servant to bring back his people, to bring back the scattered people of Israel. The Lord gives me honor; he is the source of my strength.

~Isaiah 49:5 Good News Bible

______________________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.