Finding Your Strength Again

Life is a journey filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, gains and losses, victories and defeats. So many times, we long for an “even keel”… to find a place of normality, calm, and even strength. Unfortunately, life has a way of interrupting this and forcing things to be sporadic. And in these places we find ourselves weak, and needing to find our strength again. The funny thing about losing your strength is that it always seems to happen when we need it most.

At one time I was strong. I was at the top of my game, pastoring a growing and thriving church. Attendance had grown close to 1000% during my time there, and the financial giving and time commitment of volunteers reflected that. I was also leading a Bible college, influencing students from around the world to make a difference with their lives. I was speaking here and there, right across North America, and truly felt I was making a difference in the world around me.

And I was. I was helping people, contributing to personal wholeness, life improvement, financial well-being, marital stability, family relationships, and seeing people realize their dreams and potential. I was also reproducing this into others. But then my personal crash came.

Personal issues I had not dealt with, which impacted every other relationship around me, finally began to rear their ugly head. I had tried and tried and tried, to work through the issues on my own, but as I successively failed things got worse and worse. I couldn’t brush it under the carpet anymore. I lost my strength… and with it, almost everything else.

Losing your strength is an appalling thing. There is a huge sense of… well, loss. You had something: strength, which was your fuel and energy and motivation and drive. Without it, you are weak. Absent strength, you are strength-less, faith-less, and it seems hope-less. You feel like nothing. And the very thing that used to attract people and resources to you is gone… so you are very, very alone, without resource or provision.

Maybe, just maybe, God lets us lose our strength for a reason. It seems this way when you read 2 Corinthians 12…
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. 10 Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

There it is… God’s power works best in my weakness. When I am weak, He has the chance to be strong in me. So, I can be quite content with my weakness… because it is an opportunity for His strength to shine through.

So, having said that, and allowing for His strength to come through in our weakness, how can we find our strength again?

Look Inside - See Who & What Is Within! I had a revelation, a bit of an “aha moment” the other day. The eye opening truth that came to me was that I am a prince, royalty, the finest creation has to offer. I am glad to say that this is not an exclusive role… in other words, so are you and so is every other person on this planet! We are royalty, we are princes and princesses, kings and queens, born for the best that this world has to offer. The seed of greatness is in me… and for sure, it is in you… Take a look inside!

Look Outside - See Who Is Around You! You need to see yourself as surrounded by people who care, people who will give you strength and support and nourishment. Sometimes, we feel as though there are none, but I believe, if we look for it, God has placed all around us people who are there for us to help and lend us a hand. As the song says, “I get by with a little help from my friends”. None of us were designed to walk alone, carry on alone, struggle alone. The seed of help and support is around me… Take a look outside!

Look Behind - See What You’ve Come Through! Every one of us have come through very difficult and trying times at some point in our past. Each of these times of stress and anxiety have prepared us for what we are facing today. The promise of God is that He will never let us face more than we can handle (I Corinthians 10:13). But sometimes we may feel like Mother Theresa, who said this: “I know God will never give me more than I can handle…I just wish He didn’t trust me so much!” Draw strength from your past and all you have come through. The seeds to get through today are found in what you came through yesterday!.. Take a look behind!

Look Ahead - See Where You’re Going! Sometimes when we lose our strength we also lose sight of the prize: our goals and dreams and vision. We need to step back for a moment and remind ourselves of our dreams, our goals and visions and hopes and aspirations. Never give up and never let those dreams and aspirations fade… Take a look ahead!

Look Below - See The Journey! Sometimes when we lose our strength, we also lose sight of the fact that wherever we are going, it is going to be a journey. It is going to take time, putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time. Nothing is instant. There is no “drive-thru” or “microwave instant meals” in life. Gear up for a long journey…a marathon as opposed to a sprint… Take a look below!

Look Above - See Who Is With You! There is One who will never leave you, never forsake you, never fail you. There is One who cares when others don’t, who walks in when others walk out, who has open arms when others have closed fists. God Himself with never leave you, nor abandon you, like others may have – Psalm 23; Hebrews 13:5-6. You know this already… Take a look inside!

Stop Looking! Maybe part of the problem is us always wanting and needing to be strong. Maybe we should talk the endless quest to always feel strong, and embrace weakness. Maybe, like Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, we should learn: “I am quite content with my weaknesses… For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Maybe in God’s economy, Weakness=Strength & Limitations=Power.