The Lord Is My Strength

With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.

Psalm 60:12

Nothing will come against you that God is not ready, able, willing, and even eager to empower you to overcome. In his strength you are able to accomplish far beyond anything that is possible in your natural strength. Courageous living comes from knowing this as a life principle. You can face anything because you are not depending on your own strength.

Author Carol Kent and her husband, Gene, were thrust without warning into a nightmarish event that forever redefined their idea of normal. Their only child, Jason, who had been nothing but a joy in their lives, was arrested and charged with murder. Jason, fearing for the safety of his two young stepdaughters, had shot their biological father, whom Jason believed to be a danger to them. Carol remembers her heart sinking into her stomach, her entire body going numb, and the subsequent heartache and agony as Jason was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

But what could easily have been a story of defeat and disillusionment is instead one of courage, faith, and strength. Jason leads Bible studies in prison, mentors other prisoners, and leads prayer groups, having an impact in the most unlikely place. His influence is changing the lives of men whom he would likely never have encountered had his life not taken this turn. Generations will be different because Jason Kent has chosen to let God’s strength sustain him.

Anytime I imagine the worst thing that could ever happen, my mind goes to Carol and Gene. I look at them and know that if the worst thing imaginable ever happened in my life, God’s strength would be enough. Of course, there’s no need to worry about all the terrible things that could befall us. We will have difficulties, and some of them will be major problems. Some of them will throw our lives into chaos and redefine our own ideas of normal. But God’s strength will always be ours, and he will always be more than enough.

Father, I thank you that your strength makes me ready for any of life’s challenges. No matter what comes my way, you can make me victorious.

Only he who can say, “The Lord is the strength of my life” can say, “Of whom shall I be afraid?”

Alexander Maclaren(1826–1910), British preacher and Bible expositor