According to the dictionary, strength means the quality or state of being strong, mental power, vigor, moral power, firmness, or courage.

“He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.”

Isaiah 40:29 (NKJV)

Often times we think of the word strength as meaning physical might, but this word is by no means limited to this definition. Strength is more often needed in terms of mental toughness, courage to follow through or step out, and to maintain moral integrity in a fallen world. As we think about challenges that we face throughout the course of a day, we’ll find that the vast majority of them require a resolute mind, steadfast soul, and the firm knowledge of who God is in our lives. We get bombarded by messages of insecurity and insufficiency. We are told to seek pleasure and to make ourselves and our dreams come true (don’t mind the expense that others pay along the way to get us there). We’re told love is love and to disregard a moral standard that can be defined. We’re told our identity can be whatever we feel like it should be rather than who we were made and intimately crafted to be. We’re told life evolved which discredits any notion of the unique and overwhelming value of each human being. We’re told that one person’s comfort, future, and even health can override another person’s right to exist and be born.

The message of the world is to eat from the forbidden fruit and denounce your allegiance to your maker. Place yourself in the seat of God because you know what is best for your life. Those are the messages that take real courage and strength to stand against. Because the world does not share a message that values life, morality, integrity, and our true identity as being made in the image of God. Weakness goes with the flow and bends to the moral compromises that common culture offers. But there is an endless source of “mental power” and “moral power” offered through Jesus. However, that power comes through devoting our hearts, decisions, words, thoughts, and total lives to Him. Albert Einstein is quoted saying that, “Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.”

Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His presence continually!

1 Chronicles 16:11 (ESV)

Peace in Christ brothers and sisters.