WHAT MAKES YOU STRONG?

The answers vary but hear the Lord: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, Thy strength is small” (Proverbs 24:10, ASV).

The practical application of this mean I need to find something strong that I can wrap my arms around and hold on when the tempestuous storm comes roaring through.

One’s strength comes from one of two sources. It comes from man’s creation, or it comes from a source outside himself. If it is of man’s creation, then whatever value there is in the gaining of strength, what works today may not work tomorrow.

I heard a story years ago of a man who wrote down all the powerful anecdotal thoughts he heard, knowing one day they would benefit him as he leafed through them. The years came and went and, as it happens with all of us, what he thought in yesteryear was not the same as he was thinking today. He threw all those anecdotal remarks away. They had to be a reason for it, wasn’t there?

There was. It’s called the maturation of life. At 61, the wisdom I felt I had at 31 is gone. At 31, two girls at home with a loving wife. At 61, four grandchildren, and still with the same loving wife. After 38 years of marriage, I look at my wife as my strength in the family setting, but only in the family setting.

My strength is the Lord. He is the only One to whom I will give an account when my life is over. I want to be sure I hold on to Him in my many days of adversity.