Strength for the Journey

Life is a journey and sometimes we travel through green pastures and sometimes through parched desert areas. Where do we find strength for the journey especially in the dry and arid times? The psalmist continually states that God alone is our strength, refuge and consolation and that true strength is not found in our resources or even ourselves but only in God.

Psalm 84 especially brings this out so beautifully. When we feel drained and at the end of ourselves, God is there to refresh us and impart to us His strength.
Psalm 84:4-7
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

We can shift the valley experience also into a place of refreshing. It is up to us to do this. As the Psalm says, all we need to do is dwell in His presence and have our hearts set on Him as we journey through life. We need to go into His presence in worship, read and meditate on His word and wait on Him. We will then go from strength to strength and will not feel weary anymore. Isaiah too understood that God alone can be our everlasting source of strength as God does not grow tired or weary.
Isaiah 40:28-31
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Paul and Silas too were in a valley experience as they were falsely accused and jailed. They did not sit down and complain but they looked to God and started praising God. Soon all the other prisioners joined them and God’s strength was supernaturally imparted and a earthquake broke their chains loose, the jailer believed and was baptized and they were released the next morning. (Acts Chapter 16). The whole situation changed because Paul and Silas chose to tap into God’s strength in their time of need. That is why Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9 of God’s response to Paul’s prayer when he weak, “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in your weakness”.

Are you discouraged? Are you tired and weary? You have the capacity to change the situation. Tap into God’s everlasting and undying strength and He will impart His strength to you. You will soon feel refreshed and grow from strength to strength and soar on wings like eagles!