Psalm 37:39 But the
salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength
in the time of trouble. 40
And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the
wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.
Psalm 29:11 The
LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with
peace.
These scriptures reveal
to us some wonderful news. If we are God’s people and we put our faith and
trust in him, He will strengthen us in our time of need. Sometimes when bad things happen in our life
such as a death of a loved one or when our health turns for the worse or when
everything seems likes its working against us, it can begin to beat us down and
can cause some to fall away from God. But it’s very important that we remember
to rely upon God during these difficult times. We need to learn to lean upon
his everlasting arms and to cast all our cares and concerns on him. When we
became Christians, we became Gods chosen people and because of that we have
been blessed in the fact that we can and will receive strength from God as
these verses have taught us. So, we should follow the advice of,
1 Chronicles
In this lesson, I hope
can get you to realize how important is for us seek the Lord and His strength
especially during the difficult times of our lives. I don’t want us to ever
forget that God is always there for us to help us in our time of need. The
first thing I would like to do is to examine the OT and see what it says about
drawing strength from God. I like what is says in,
Isaiah 41:9 You whom
I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not
cast you away: 10 Fear not,
for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right
hand.'
The lord is simply saying
that when you are His servant, He will cast off to the side or ignore you. No,
he will strengthen and help you when you need his helping hand and He tells us
not to fear or to become discouraged since He is our God. It should bring us
great comfort every single day knowing that God has made this promise to all
those who belong to him. Now let’s take a look at several OT examples of those
who understood that they could draw strength from God.
Exodus 15:1 Then
Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying:
"I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and
its rider He has thrown into the sea! 2
The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is
my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him.
Our first example has to
do with Moses and the children of
Our
next example comes from the story of Sampson and Delilah. We should all be
familiar with this story because we just studied this story in Johnny class. If
you will remember Delilah tries to find out how to make Sampson lose his
strength so the Philistines can overpower him. Several times Sampson lies to
her and each time the Philistines attack him and he easily defeats them. Now
you would think that Sampson would figure out what Delilah was trying to
accomplish, but in the end he finally tells her what will make him weak and so
she cuts off his hair while he was asleep and this time the Philistines
overtook him and gouged out his eyes. Sampson became nothing more than a
spectacle for the Philistines and they had him on display at large gathering
where they were thanking their God for overcoming him and they asked for
Sampson to be brought before them to perform. Now let’s pick up this story in,
Judges 16:26 Then
Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars
which support the temple, so that I can lean on them." 27 Now the temple was full of men
and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there -- about three
thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. 28 Then Samson called to the LORD,
saying, "O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this
once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines
for my two eyes!" 29 And
Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he
braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. 30 Then Samson said, "Let me
die with the Philistines!" And he pushed with all his might, and
the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the
dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.
Sampson
was confident that if he prayed to God for strength that he would receive it
and sure enough he did. Here we have a man that had been made blind and
ridiculed, yet he was able to gain strength from God through his prayer. As
Christians today we need to keep in mind this simply lesson that no matter how
badly we have been beaten weather physically or mentally we are only one prayer
away from drawing strength from God.
There
are many well worded songs with in Psalms that speak of God and the wonderful
strength that we can gain from him. I want to share at least one of these with
you and it comes from,
Psalm 46:1 God is
our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, Even
though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst
of the sea; 3 Though its
waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its
swelling. 4 There is a
river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of
the tabernacle of the Most High. 5
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her,
just at the break of dawn. 6
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth
melted. 7 The LORD of hosts is
with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. 8 Come, behold
the works of the LORD, Who has made desolations in the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end
of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot
in the fire. 10 Be still, and
know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be
exalted in the earth! 11 The
LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.
We should never get to
the point in our Christian lives where we think that the Lord’s hands are
shortened and that he cannot help us. This Psalm
shows us that God is always there and if we will just be still and know that He
is our God and salvation, we will always be able to draw strength from him.
Our
next example comes from a man that understood the importance of letting God be
his everything and his guide throughout life. I am talking about David. David
has a lot to say about trusting in God and asking him for strength.
2 Samuel 22:1 Then
David spoke to the LORD the words of this song, on the day when the LORD had
delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 And he said: "The LORD is
my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and
the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me
from violence. 4 I will call
upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my
enemies. 5 'When the waves of
death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 6 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded
me; The snares of death confronted me. 7
In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my
voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears.
David understood who his
redeemer was and you will find him praising God over and over again for what he
had done for him is his life. But David also knew that he could gain comfort
and strength from God’s word as well.
Psalm 119:27 Make me
understand the way of Your precepts; So shall I meditate on Your wondrous
works. 28 My soul melts from
heaviness; Strengthen me according to Your word. 29 Remove from me the way of
lying, And grant me Your law graciously.
30 I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid
before me. 31 I cling
to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame! 32 I will run the course of Your
commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart.
33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall
keep it to the end. 34
Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it
with my whole heart. 35
Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.
So, if we want to draw
strength from God, we can go to his Word and read it and understand that His Word
is true. So, when we start reading about all the promise God has made to us and
how he guarantees us that if we live faithfully to him and put our trust in him,
we can know that will make to that
wonderful place that is called heaven and this should encourage and strengthen
us. It will also help us when read about
those who were found themselves in worse situations than we have ever thought
about being in, yet they leaned on God and drew strength from him and
persevered. Again, this teaches us that we can do the same when we find
ourselves in a difficult situation.
So far we have looked at
several examples from the OT now let’s take a look at the NT and see what it says about drawing strength from God.
Sometimes our bodies will
develop a problem. Maybe we can’t see as well or perhaps we loose a limb or
maybe we become physically weak. Going through such and ordeal may cause some
to loose their faith, but this should not be the case. Notice what we learn
from Paul as he had to deal with an infirmity in his own life.
2 Corinthians 12:6 For
though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the
truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to
be or hears from me. 7
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I
be exalted above measure. 8
Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart
from me. 9 And He said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,
in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am
weak, then I am strong.
Paul would have loved to
have his thorn in the flesh removed because he asked god 3 times to remove it.
But Gods response was my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. God is teaching you and I that there will be infirmities
in our life, but no matter what your infirmity may be, God’s grace should be
sufficient enough for us. Knowing that we are God’s chosen people and that we
are in a saved condition because of the wonderful gift of grace he has given us
through his Son should give us the comfort and strength we need to keep our infirmity
from dragging us down. If anything, we
should use our illness to grow closer to God by gaining strength from him
during these trying times.
Another thing we need to
realize is that every single Christian no matter how spiritually strong they
are will always have need to draw strength from God. Again, Paul is another
great example of this. I think everyone would agree that Paul was a very
dedicated servant of God, but we have several examples that indicate that he
struggled with his Christianity and he had to draw strength from God to go on. For
instance notice what,
Acts 18:9 Now the
Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak,
and do not keep silent; 10
"for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have
many people in this city."
To put this into context,
Paul was at
Acts 27:20 Now
when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on
us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. 21 But after long abstinence from
food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, "Men, you should have
listened to me, and not have sailed from
Again, it is implied that
Paul was beginning to doubt that he would survive the voyage until an angel
came and reassured him that he would live to see Caesar. Paul gained strength
from God during this time, which seemed hopeless to everyone else. This shows
that everyone no matter how strong or weak they are must draw strength from God
from time to time. Another important lesson we learn from Paul’s time at sea is
that once he was strengthened by God, he shared his strength with those around
him as he was being a vessel for God. We need to keep this in mind because God
can use us as a vessel to strengthen those around us, but the source of
strength is always from God. So when we see someone else hurting or struggling
with something, try to help them by being there for them. The Bible tells us to
bear one another’s burdens and weep with those who weep and rejoice with those
who rejoice this all related to sharing the strength that you gain from
God.
But what happens if you
find yourself in a place where Christians are failing in their duty to bear
your burden and you find yourself neglected. Well, even in instances like this,
we can still gain strength from God. Paul understood this and gives us a great
example of this in,
2 Timothy
As you can see, Paul
wrote a lot about gaining strength from God and there are many other verses
that we could go to that he has written on this topic. However, for times sake
I just want to share one more with you. In this next writing, Paul is talking
about how is possible for some to become discouraged when they see others going
through difficult times and he will explain how we should not allow this to
bring us down but instead we should allow God to strengthen us.
Ephesians 3:13 Therefore
I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14 For this reason I bow my knees
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15
from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His
Spirit in the inner man, 17
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and
grounded in love, 18 may be
able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and
depth and height -- 19 to
know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all
the fullness of God. 20 Now
to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to
all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
So lets us never ever
forget that we can make it through any hardship that this life may bring if we
simply remember to trust in God and to gain strength from Him during these
times. Paul learned that lesson in life
and that is why he was able to say with all confidence
Philippians
I hope this lesson this evening
has encouraged you in someway and has reminded you that you have a God who
loves you and will never forsake and you can gain strength from him.