~Strength to Follow~

 
"He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength." - Isaiah 40:29

Have you ever felt like a spiritual failure? You get on your knees to pray and just can't see how God can bless you because you just can't seem to get over those spiritual hurdles that face you every day. You know what you should do, but just can't ever seem to succeed. It's in those moments that the enemy provokes us the most, pressing down hopelessness and despair upon our heart.

We have all been there. It's heartbreaking to kneel before God, knowing it's your heart's desire to follow Him yet finding that the opposite continues to happen each day and there doesn't seem to be anything you can do to stop it.

The reality is you can't stop, at least not by any ability you have in yourself. But, Christ meant it when He spoke through Paul, "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Cor. 15:57 When we are in those situations, this promise seems far-fetched and perhaps meant for a more worthy Christian than we have shown to be.

But, this is the promise for ALL of God's children. God's covenant is that His children will taste the sweetness of victory and will be able to soar as eagles. We do this in His strength. This is the key. When we find ourselves in spiritual failure, it's because we have stopped trusting in God's power and started trusting in our own. The path that God may be leading us in or the choice God is asking us to make differs from our own desire. Each time we deviate from the preference God has for us, we begin to build that wall between us and God.

The heart of the matter is our will, our desire. We are evil from birth and only the redemptive power of Jesus can change our will and our desire. Our will is the rudder that moves the ship. It's what sets us on either a right course or a wrong one.

There are also times when we face real challenges to doing what God is calling us to do. The circumstances are such that it is a battle just to move one step in God's direction. But, that's where God's strength comes in. When we are at our weakest, when the enemy is pressing in like a flood telling us we are hopeless, that our sins are too great, that we are not worthy, God steps in and raises up His standard, His word, against the enemy and prevails.

"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God. "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned."

Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." - Is. 40:1-2, 10-11, 27-31

The secret to following God lies in His own strength. When we feel that God is leading us in a steep, uphill climb and we feel we just can't take one more step, His promise in Isaiah says He'll give us just enough strength to keep going. With each step comes a little bit more and a little bit more. We just keep climbing and He'll keep giving us strength. Until somewhere along the journey, we will be swept up as though on wings of eagles and realize that God has brought us through. "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills." - Hab. 3:18

 
Kimberly Mills
Elijah Road Ministries Devotional