STRENGTH IN YOUR WEAKEST MOMENTS

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

“You are such a strong woman!” “How is it that you continue forward, where do you get this courage from?” Have you ever heard these things being said about you? Have you ever sat back and really thought of the qualities that people see in you to make them relate this description to who you are? Until recently I would take the compliment and just keep moving, but recently I have asked God what makes someone strong? What are the steps to tapping into the strength that you give us through your joy?

Strength in itself is having physical force and having the qualities that are necessary to withstand difficult situations, stress, and basically any “curve” ball that life throws your way. It is the ability to “look on the brighter side of things”. But before I can become this way there is one very important step that I have to make. That is to surrender. I would like you to take a minute to listen to the Kim Walker song and really listen to the words of the song. Follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m79Swbo9gvg. In a physical sense to surrender means to declare defeat, spiritually it means to give up one’s own will and subject our thoughts, ideas, and deeds to the will and teachings of God. Before I can gain strength I must declare defeat? I must give up my desire for the desires God has for me? My answer to this question is yes.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the LORD.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

 

Although it seems to be something that doesn’t quite make sense, or something that we aren’t ready to do right now, the Lord tells us through his word that he doesn’t think the way we do, making me believe and know that what doesn’t make sense to us makes perfect sense to the Almighty. 2nd Corinthians 12:9 says, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” We are made powerful when we are weak. Why? Because in the midst of our weakness we are reminded that we are human and that we have limits. We have exhausted all the avenues we could’ve taken and we are all out of ideas and options. So what happens? We must resort to someone else, and who else but God. This is where God steps in and we recognize the almighty strength and power of the Lord. So the sea may be roaring and the boat may be rocking back and forth right now, but having had turned over all these things to the Lord and knowing that he is in control fills us with the peace that surpasses all understanding and makes us strong enough to withstand the wind having in mind that we will be back at shore in no time.

Surrendering your will for the will of God may be the hardest aspect of becoming strong. We have dreamed far too long, desired far too much, and longed for way too great things that being put in a place where we must have the disposition to let what we know go and trust in what God has in store for us just seems a bit absurd. In order to do this we must know what the will of God is for our lives when it comes to practical situations so that we know what choices to make. Women, the divorce rate in America is so high that if we can do anything not to be part of the statistics then we should. It seems as though the values and moral standards have decreased to such an extent to where the first option thrown at us when things get hard is to leave him and walk away. But whatever happened to confronting the situation and sticking through it in the good and bad times. God’s will is for the family to be together as one, so when you are arguing over something that can be resolved then your fist instinct should be the will of God. These are the things in life that God allows to make us strong. I have to desire what God desires for me: things that are great and far beyond my highest possible goal.

I have come to realize that his love makes it worth it all. The love that God demonstrates to me on a daily basis makes any hard place or any trouble that I may be experiencing worth the battle, worth the struggle, and worth the growing pains. These hard places are all part of the training that God gives us; these are the situations that create wisdom and knowledge so that you don’t go back through the same ditch twice. At the end of the day, I look back at where I have been and I rejoice to see where I am, many times I find myself saying, your love makes it all worth it God. We can’t ask for more from the Lord and not expect the Lord to require more from us in return, are we willing to give more when we ask for more?

Strength isn’t a quality that you are born having, it is something that is acquired. Knowing that the word says that the joy of the Lord is our strength should give us a big enough reason to change our perspective on things and start looking at things much differently. To change our thinking and our perspective on life will enable us to be strong where we need to be and remain vulnerable to the Lord and his holy spirit. Trusting an unknown future to a known God is challenging. He knows what is best, if he didn’t why would he take you in the direction he is? Trust in God, know God, and be encouraged that he will give you the strength you need to continue forward. It isn’t how you make it, it’s that you make it! If he didn’t think you could do it, he wouldn’t have entrusted you with such a mission!

Prayer:

Father I acknowledge that I am an individual full of weaknesses and that I need you in all aspects of my life in order to come out victorious. I ask you to strengthen me through this process that I am going through because I trust in what you’ve told me and I know that you are made powerful in the midst of my weakness. Thank you because your timing is perfect, you don’t come too early or too late, you make it right on time.

P.S.

If you don’t have Christ in your heart yet I encourage you to surrender your heart to him on this day. Allow him to come in and take control of things. He is the best person to sit in the driver’s seat of life. Once you make this choice you will feel the Lord strengthen your life in a way in which the smaller things won’t affect you any longer and your endurance and tolerance will begin to increase as time goes by. It’s the best choice I’ve ever made; to know that when I go through things I am never alone is priceless. What a wonderful God I serve!

Please watch this skit called “The Chisel”. If you’ve ever felt worthless please understand that you are a masterpiece of the Lord, start believing it, this is a key step to acquiring strength, to value yourself and know that you are a work in progress. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfUzodLRvk



Lourdes Hernandez

If you want to accept Jesus into your heart at this moment, I invite you to read the following out loud: Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner, forgive my sins, cleanse me with your precious blood. Come into my heart, save my soul right now; write my name in the book of life, I give you my life. I receive you now as my Savior, my Lord and my God. I will serve you every day of my life. I belong to you, and this day I am born again and I'm your child (daughter/son), Amen. In making this prayer, confessing your sins and accepting Jesus into your heart, God has given you today the right to be called his child (daughter/son). "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

On behalf of the Daughters of a King Ministry, we congratulate you on this important step you have done on this day, the next step is to congregate (at a local church) and read the Word of God, the Bible (daily). We belong to the Council of Church of God and there are churches around the world, if you do not know where to go contact us via email (hijasdeunrey@gmail.com) and we can help you find a church does not matter where you are located.