Strength to Meet the Challenge 

Do I Have What it Takes?

Getting stuff done and pressing into everything God has for us are not without their challenges. The question we all ask ourselves is “Do I have what it takes to meet and conquer the task before me?”

The following verse is God’s answer, promising we’ll have the strength we need to rise to the challenge. “The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days” (Deuteronomy 33:25 NIV). In other words, you will have what it takes when you need it! This is a blessing spoken by Moses over the tribe of Asher for their protection and provision, just prior to facing the perils of conquering the Promised Land. It is an assurance we all can claim as followers of Christ.

Strength for the Weary

Seven hundred years later God reiterated this promise of infusing His people with the strength they need, through Isaiah the Prophet. This was when he wrote “He gives strength (ability) to the weary and increases the power (might or vigor) of the weak” (Isaiah 40:29 NIV). The verse addresses two types of people, each exhibiting a different debilitating condition which we all are plagued with and tempted by.

First, he is speaking to those who have been in the battle for some time, are tired and weary, physically and emotionally fatigued, and ready to quit. These people, clinging steadfastly to a hope or a promise are ready to faint under the weight of some affliction, delayed deliverance, or unanswered prayer. In response Isaiah promises that God will give them, and us, the necessary strength and ability to persevere and ultimately triumph.

Vim and Vigor for the Weak

Secondly, we see in the last half of the verse that the prophet is also speaking to those who are so weak and mentally fatigued that they lack the energy and initiative to even start. These are people with whom we all can identify, whose “get up and go, got up and went.” Frozen through inertia, lack of might or vigor, and apprehensive of what will be required of them, they find themselves powerless to do anything. In response, Isaiah promises that God will inject them with the necessary vim and vigor to get them up off the couch and “Just do it!”

His Grace is Sufficient

Fast forward another seven hundred and fifty years and we see this same principle at work in the New Testament. In the famous passage where the Apostle Paul is beset by weakness and incapacitated by a “thorn in the flesh,” God speaks to him with a breakthrough promise: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Not unlike Moses’ blessing of Asher that his “strength would be equal to his days,” this promise of God’s sufficiency in the face of whatever may be holding you back, is a game changer to get and keep you moving forward.

Father, thank You for the sufficiency of Your grace in the face of my weaknesses. I confess them to You and in exchange choose to receive Your strength. I thank you for Your protection and provision in my life. I therefore confess confidently that the bolts of my gates will be iron and bronze and my strength will be equal to my days. Amen

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