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Written by Carolyn Gardner One of my favourite quotes that I have used over and over again says that "True courage isn’t having the strength to go on; it’s going on when you don’t have the strength." If you are at a place in your life where everything is going wrong, if you need help to find the strength to get through, or having been baptized with God’s Holy Spirit you feel guilty for feeling alone and afraid, then please read on my friend. May the Lord instill in you the hope and light that you need right now in your life. There are some people who for most of their lives prior to baptism have been anxious, stressed out or even depressed and after receiving the Holy Spirit felt healed in that they no longer suffered from these worldly afflictions. I was not so fortunate. Sadly, I thought it was because I didn’t have enough faith in the Lord to overcome these things. You can well imagine that this only added guilt to my feelings of anxiety and sadness! Perhaps this describes your situation. Have you been baptized for some time and still find yourself struggling with anxiety or worry? Do life’s difficulties still manage to get you down? The tragic part of all this is that it can sometimes lead people to question whether they received God’s Holy Spirit in the first place. After all, if a person did have God’s Holy Spirit, then they shouldn’t be suffering anymore right? Wrong. When we plant a seed in the ground, water it and go to bed, upon rising in the morning do we find a full grown tree? Of course not. I believe this same analogy can be applied to those who have been baptized with God’s Holy Spirit. God provides us with the seed and we provide the fertile soil in which it can grow over time and mature into a full-grown tree that produces spiritual fruits. Growing in the grace, knowledge and faith in the Lord is a continual process. For some of us there are mountains to overcome, for others there are only pebbles. Is one a better Christian then the other or more righteous? Not at all. For the time being, let’s not focus on the growth of others, but rather, let’s focus on our own (Romans 14:12). In times of despair I have turned to the book of Psalms. There I found a curious verse that literally jumped out at me. This is the verse, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait I say, on the Lord" (Psalm 27:14). When I first read over this passage I took it to mean that God will make me feel strong. All I have to do is sit back and wait. So I did. At first I did feel a little more encouraged after reading that scripture, but when I had to go outside and deal with the things that were continually beating me down; I found that I didn’t have the strength anymore. What happened to it? What was wrong with me? It took me a while to finally understand how the Lord really works with us to help us overcome and when I began to understand His will then He was able to truly strengthen my heart. Even then, it wasn’t an over night miracle. It still took some time. If you go to a gym and sit down at one of the machines, but don’t use it and move on to the next one, did you strengthen your biceps? In order to strengthen your muscles, you need to use them. What’s even more fascinating is that in order for a muscle to actually become stronger, it must first become weakened. Weight lifting is actually a process of producing microscopic tears in the muscle tissues. When we go to bed after a day at the gym, our body repairs those tears and in turn, actually strengthens the muscle. In many instances, the Lord uses this same process when he wants to strengthen us. If I hope in the Lord, how will He strengthen my heart? To begin to answer this, I want to share with you a poem. It’s titled, "Broken Dreams" and the author is unknown. As children bring their broken toys I brought my broken dreams to God But then instead of leaving Him I hung around and tried to help At last I snatched them back and cried "My child," He said, "What could I do? At Passover we wash another person’s feet, but at the same time we also have someone else wash our feet. It is good to be humble enough to get on our knees and serve others as we would serve Christ, but if we do not allow Christ to wash our feet, then we have no part with Him (John 13:8). As much as we are willing to help others, we must also be humble enough to stop and let Christ help us. This is often the most difficult thing we can do because it means putting total and complete trust in Him, but it is important if we want to allow God to strengthen us. How do we submit to His will? It begins by understanding how He feels about you and what He is willing to do on your behalf. God said to His people in Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 6, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them (other nations of whom Israel would dispossess); for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." In Isaiah chapter 43, starting in verse 1, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned nor shall the flame scorch you… Fear not, for I am with you (verses 1-5). In Isaiah chapter 41, verse 13 The Lord God states that He will hold your right hand, saying, "Fear not, I will help you." While it is true that He is speaking to the nation of Israel, as baptized members of the church, we represent a spiritual Israel and God’s promise to help extends to us as well. In the New Testament we have Jesus’ own words of comfort. Let’s read in Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 to 30, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." John chapter 10, verses 27 to 29, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater then all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand." In Matthew chapter 18, verses 12 to 14; Christ explains, "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep then over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." We can begin to understand that we are precious to God, that He would search for us when we go astray to bring us back, hold our right hand when we walk through trials and bring us true peace of mind when we share our burdens with Jesus Christ. To summarize what God is willing to do for us, Isaiah chapter 40, verses 29 to 31 tells us, "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." So why do we need to wait on the Lord? Because only He can give us the kind of strength that we really need. We cannot posses this strength on our own, and sometimes it is only by having God-given strength and courage that we can not only overcome life’s obstacles but also have peace while we are in the process of overcoming! No man-made or self-help remedy will ever be able to do this amazing feat! There is a catch however, (isn’t there always?) if you want the Lord to hold your hand, you have to take it out of your pocket and hold it out to Him! We don’t have to be afraid that God will slap in back into our face because He clearly says that He will always be there to take your hand when you turn to Him and ask for His help. It doesn’t matter how far from the straight and narrow path you have strayed, it is never too late to let God find you again and bring you back. Peter is a great example of how when things get hairy, we can often find ourselves sinking in doubt, "But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately (my emphasis) Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 15: 30-31). Finally, it is necessary for us to wait on the Lord and to follow His lead because in order to strengthen that which needs strengthening in your life and bring you courage, He may need to take you through the valley of the shadow of death. In other words, He might lead you through situations you’re probably dreading, and He may need to take you to the place you don’t want to go. He has to do this in order for you to truly overcome and make it into the green pastures and still waters of peace. Sometimes there is no other way but through the valley. Just as the muscle must be weakened before it can become stronger, so we must also submit ourselves to God’s will and allow him to walk us through the fire. Fear not my lambs, His rod and His staff will comfort you and He will neither leave you nor forsake you, ever. He is the Captain of your vessel (your mind and body) and He knows better then anyone what you can and cannot handle. He will never give you more than what you are able to withstand (1 Corinthians 10:13). No matter how bleak things look right now in your life, no matter how far you have strayed, no matter how much you are afraid or hurting, the Lord is there, waiting for you to give Him your hand. You are precious to Him and He will guide you out of the wilderness and set your feet back upon the path of life no matter how many times you may have fallen. "You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever" (Psalm 30:11&12). A-men.
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