- 72. Power and Strength
Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
God gives power and strength to the faint and those who have no might. That includes all sinners who are engaged in warfare against the enemies of Sin, Death and the Devil. We are all weak and faint. There is no way we can handle the assaults of Evil. The sooner we admit our weakness and ask for help the better we will be, for when we are weak then He is strong. Jesus Christ exercises power and strength in favor of the weak and powerless. But He will not exercise His power on our behalf if we think we are capable of taking care of it ourselves.
The Lord always brings down the proud and exalts the humble. God resists the proud. It is not that the Lord wouldn’t help all people, even the prideful and supposedly strong, but pride and self gets in the way of His power coming to us. The sick need a Physician; the healthy do too, but they do not acknowledge it. Thus the power is not received.
Daily repentance and honest humility keeps us weak, faint, and in need. Jesus is always there to give power and strength in time of need. The truth is: we need power and strength all the time. Believing in Jesus and trusting God for everything we need and for all good is itself a sign of weakness. And that’s a good thing, because we have a promise: God gives power and strength.
Power may look like helplessness and strength may look like weakness. The greatest power in the world was unleashed in the suffering, weakness, and death of Jesus: it is the power of sacrificial love. Sin and Death and Satan did not know what to do with that, and they could not overcome it. Then violence happened: Jesus rose from the dead in his human body. This was the violence of life over death. Through the violence against Sin at the cross and the violence against Death at the tomb the Lord gives power and strength to us. Believe the promise.