Breathe in His Strength

2 Samuel 22:33 - God is my strength and power: and he makes my way perfect.

    Someone has once said that when you come to the end of yourself, you find the beginning of God. If that is true, then when we are the weakest and feeling the most powerless, we may just be in the best position to experience God as our personal strength and power and, by so doing, we will embrace another aspect of His character and enjoy a closer relationship with Him.

    The ancient Hebrew word for God, in this verse, means the strong and mighty one; He is all-powerful and all-mighty; He is ultimate strength. He is the Creator. He is the One who created the heavens and the earth and set our existence in motion. He is the God of the billions and the One who cares for all and sustains each of us. He is the Almighty One, the Father and Source of life, and because of this, He is worthy of our praise.

    It is always good to focus on God; however, David is not focusing on God alone; he is also focusing on his personal relationship with God. He is my strength. He is my power. He makes my way perfect. The Almighty God is my God. It is possible that this is one of the reasons God spoke of David as a man after His own heart; he made God his God; he made faith in God an intimate matter.

    Many times, we might look at others and think of how faithful they are, or how disciplined they are, or maybe, how kind they are, and we have no problem believing that God will bless and help and strengthen them. In contrast, we sometimes look at ourselves and remind ourselves of how many times we have failed or fallen, but we mustn’t fixate on ourselves, we must get our eyes on Him and His willingness to use His power on our behalf. He is my strength; mine, not just another’s, but, my strength. I, with all my failings, with all my flaws, have the offer of God’s personal touch. He is my God, my strength, my power, and He is with me, as close as the very air I breathe.

    God is. Notice that he did not say that God was. No! God is, and He will always be. As we age, we may hear ourselves speak of things that we used to do. I used to lift hundreds of pounds at the gym. I used to work hard and never grow tired. I used to be able to eat anything and never gain weight. We may also speak of how we used to be strong in the Lord. We used to read and enjoy the Bible. We used to be active and involved with others. Sadly, however, that is the language of regret and lament and it remains stuck in the past. That is also the language of despair and hopelessness; it is trapped; repeating its cycle of history.

    The language of faith, however, brings everything up to date. God is. He is my current strength. He is my present power. He is, right at this moment, making my way perfect. He is not the strength of yesterday or that of tomorrow. Like the oxygen, which we cannot re-use, or store up, He is only available right now, and, identical to the oxygen, He is needed right now.

    Go ahead, friends, breathe in the fresh air of God’s grace and strength. Inhale His mercy, exhale your failings. Inhale His acceptance, exhale your rejection. Inhale His strength, exhale your frailty. Inhale His hope, exhale your despair. And just like the inhaled oxygen courses its way through our bloodstream bringing health as it flows, so God’s strength is coursing its way through your spirit, your mind, your emotions and your body. Whisper it every day and shout if you need to; God is my strength and power!