Encourage the exhausted, strengthen the weary,
say to those with an anxious heart, “Take courage. Fear not.”
He gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might (strength), He increases power.
God is our Refuge and Strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Isaiah 35:3-4a Isaiah 40:29 Psalm 46:1 NASB
It’s been said that most of us can endure just about anything as long as it’s short in duration. As long as we see a glimmer of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. But when the light we hoped for is really an on-coming-train version of a trial or a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me challenge, we fall to our emotional knees. Exhausted and weary. Hoping and praying for a quick ending, we suddenly realize there are no magic wands to wave away real life. Real pain. Real heartache.
If our country’s chasm-deep divide isn’t enough, if a potentially life-threatening viral pandemic isn’t enough and if financial uncertainties aren’t enough to be a recipe for flat-out weariness… throw in regular ‘ol life challenges such as relationship issues, parenting, loss, rejection, death, divorce and loneliness… The almost inevitable result – Weary. Exhausted. No strength.
Recently, I walked through just such a trial with a loved one. A trial that caused my eyes to dart about the tunnel of difficulty for a glimmer of hoped-for light. My tunnel of difficulty didn’t suddenly burst with the light of a miraculous removal of pain. As I emotionally peered into the quiet darkness of difficulty, unsure of what might lay ahead… I could “hear” my Lord’s voice speak…
He gives strength to the weary.
He encourages the exhausted.
He increases power to those who lack might.
Though I much prefer a problem-free life, that’s seldom borne out in our real-world experiences is it? And because that is the case, He lavishes His strength on us and in us. He encourages us from the inside out when there is no good reason to be encouraged, He infuses power into these power-less vessels of ours. He sustains the weary one with His very Presence.
“If it is to be a great miracle, the condition is not difficulty, but impossibility.”
Streams in the Desert
Whether your present trial is an ongoing pebble-in-the-shoe irritation, a soul-deep ache of pain or the death of _______ (You fill in the blank). His grace is sufficient. His strength is perfect. I know…You would rather He remove your pain, remove your trial. He may. But whatever He chooses – trust Him. Whatever it looks like. No matter the whispered lies of the enemy or your own mind that tells you otherwise…Trust the One Who freely gave the life of His Son on your behalf, to hold no good thing back from you.
My Father, How my heart aches at what I see and hear. Please, infuse your mighty strength into me as I speak out loud – You are good, and You are faithful. I trust You! In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
Devotions for Difficult Days 