Glory Strength

Have you ever watched one of those "strong man" contests on TV? When I was growing up I remember my mom would watch such a show if she happened upon one while channel surfing. She would say, "Wow! I wish I was that strong? Wouldn't it be something if I could just lift a whole car up?" I would laugh and say, "Yeah, that would be something to see-we could probably sell tickets!" We would both laugh and then watch in awe at the great feats of strength that these men would endure; pull vehicles using their teeth, lift enormous amounts of weight until you thought the veins in their bodies were literally going to burst, flip tires bigger than a car, the list goes on and you get the idea. These contestants showed such great physical strength that I had to wonder how long it took them to get to this point in their career as a "strong man"? When you think about the hours of training, discipline and sacrifices that they had to make it is really pretty amazing. I would say that it is a pretty rare thing to know someone or to actually have that level of physical strength. When I think of being "strong" I think more in terms of inner strength or being strong in my faith-and to be honest, I haven't felt very strong in either of those areas lately. God never said that this life would be easy or without trials-in fact He said just the opposite. God sent his own Son, Jesus and allowed Him to endure trials and hardships that many of us could not have survived. I often have to remind myself of this very thing when I am facing my own trials and sorrows. There have been many times recently when the only thing I can do is cry out to God, "Please, give me strength and wisdom to endure this." Sometimes I get so tired and wore down that I am too tired to cry....so I pray. I try to read my devotional every morning and today was no exception. This is an excerpt from the devotional called Jesus Lives by Sarah Young that I have been reading from; "When ongoing problems require you to stick it out over the long haul, your faith sometimes falters. That's when you resort to grimly grit your teeth-simply passing time in a negative frame of mind." I teared up just reading this, because you see my teeth have been gritted for so long that my whole jaw is beginning to ache. I am not the first Christian to experience personal pain or sorrow, right? So, why is this season of my life so hard for me to get through? My negativity may not always be obvious on the outside but it is slowly eating away my joy on the inside. I continued to read on what Young had to say, "This is NOT the way I want you to deal with difficult situations. I am sovereign over the circumstances in your life, so there are always opportunities to be found in them. At other times-especially when the journey is hard and seems endless-you have to search for hidden treasure. The truth is, the more difficult your situation, the more treasure there is for you to discover in it." As I read I thought to myself, "Finding treasure in this circumstance is NOT going to be easy, talk about digging deep!" But then I saw these words...Glory Strength! What is this Glory Strength and where can I get a truckload of it??? In this devotion it stated, "Glory strength enables you to keep enduring the unendurable. Since this strength has no limits, there is more than enough of it to spill over into joy!" Enduring the unendurable. How many of you have had to endure the unendurable? Watching a loved one die, waiting for a call from your doctor, not having enough money to pay all of your bills, praying for a wayward child, waiting for an answer to prayer that never seems to come? Maybe you are enduring the unendurable right now. This term Glory-strength is such a great reminder of the epic love that our Father God and Jesus have for us, agape at it's deepest core. This version of Colossians 1:11 is from The Message and I think sums it up perfectly, "We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul-not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy." Wow....Glory-strength! I need the Glory-strength of God in my life. I need to stop gritting my teeth through this pain and sorrow and start to search for the treasures that lie within these troubles. I am allowing my circumstances to determine my joy instead of finding my joy in spite of my circumstances. Once I read and re-read this devotion and the scripture I began to feel stronger, on the inside. I felt like God was giving me a "shot" of His Glory-strength! I prayed that despite what I am going through, I would know when I need to seek out the glory-strength of God and use it to give me the inner strength that I need to endure the unendurable. Whether you feel like you are in the midst of enduring the unendurable or you are feeling pretty strong right now don't forget that God's glory-strength is there and He is ready to give it to you. I don't feel like I can say that I have found my treasures in my trials yet, but that doesn't mean that I won't stop searching and asking for that glory-strength to help me through this life. Being strong isn't just about how much physical weight you can carry; it is about knowing that in your weakest, God is at His strongest and He is there to carry your burdens and to give you the glory-strength that only He has the power to give. I pray that you all endure the unendurable with that same type of glory-strength. Blessings-Nicole