This week, we’ve spoken about stirring up love for God and faith in Him. There is another important thing that you can draw from God and that is strength.

If you are honest with yourself, there is a chance that you feel tired, not only physically but a deeper kind of tired. A kind of weariness you experience while you keep showing up, keep functioning, keep doing what is expected of you, whether it is a responsibility of ministry, the responsibility of personal growth in God, the responsibility of work or school.
From the outside, nothing looks out of place. But within you, you are running low.

And the truth is, you may not even say it out loud. Because somewhere along the way, you learned that acknowledging that you are tired sounds like giving up. You have convinced yourself that being strong means pushing through without pause, without help, without dependence. So you keep going regardless of the fact that you are now running empty, and the big danger of this is that you believe your strength is meant to come from you. However, that was never the way it was designed; you were created to depend on your source for everything, including strength. It is not about you, about the capacity you have, about what you are meant to do; it has always been about your source

So you don’t have to put up a performance, God is not asking for that. He is not asking for you to keep drawing from yourself. Instead he is asking, in this time of weariness and tiredness, where are you going for strength? You have been pulling from your own reserves. Leaning on your own capacity. Relying on your own understanding to hold things together. And the result is predictable: you keep running, but you keep running empty, because it was never designed that way in the first place.

Isaiah 40:29-31
New King James Version
29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

The first thing to notice here is God does not rebuke weakness, he does not see you as incompetent because you have no might, instead he acknowledges it. He says even the youths (the ones whom by their own might are expected to be strong are expected to be capable, are expected to be able to handle all these things because they are still agile) would grow weary and it is expected.

So don’t be trapped in the web of deception that being tired or weak is a sign of you not being worthy enough, instead when you feel tired and weak, where do you take your weakness.

So the right response is to go back to the One who gives strength to the weak. Scripture says those who wait on the lord shall renew their strength. For you to stir up strength you must go back to your source for a renewal.

David, a man after God’s heart said it beautifully in:
Psalms 28:7
New King James Version
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.

Notice what the Psalmist says: “The Lord is my strength”, which means God does not merely supply what you lack. He is the life-source from which you are designed to continuously draw from.

So, when life presses in, where do you go? When the pressure and the weight of everything become too much, what is your next step? Do you retreat to God, or do you retreat further into yourself? When you feel inadequate, do you turn to Him, or do you try to compensate by pushing harder, doing more, performing better? When you are overwhelmed, what is your response?

Matthew 11:28-30 says
New King James Version
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

You might hear all of this, and it makes sense, yet returning to God still feels like weakness, like admitting defeat or like conceding that you cannot handle things on your own, but in fact, you can’t handle things on your own. You need to acknowledge that this is not a flaw because you were not designed to be self-sufficient. You were designed for dependence. Not dependence on people or circumstances, but dependence on God, who is your source

2 Corinthians 12:9
New King James Version
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Paul understood that his weakness was not a flaw instead in his weakness God strength shines more, the source of his strength is more glorified. This must be your mindset as well: acknowledge your weakness, understand that in that weakness, His strength shows up most powerfully. So never put Him as your last resort.

Simply return as you are, go back to where your strength comes from, back to the place of prayer, as a lifeline you cannot afford to neglect. Back to His word as nourishment for your soul. 

God is not asking you to figure out how to be stronger. He is asking you to stay connected to the One who is your strength. Life will always be full of responsibilities; a lot of things will demand your time, attention, and energy. Those things would not magically disappear, but the difference now is that, despite all these things, you are no longer drawing from yourself, no longer running empty; now you are connected to your source of strength, getting renewed and refreshed each day

So as you go about your day and week, when it feels overwhelming, when you feel weak and tired, allow the strength of God to shine through.

Prayer Point
Father, help me to constantly remember that you are my source of strength, so in my state of weakness, I can always get renewed in you.