I Will Strengthen You

Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV) Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

We exercise to build muscle and strength.  Exercise is not my favorite thing to do and sometimes running on a treadmill or lifting weights seems unproductive.  If you need to verify this, running for thirty minutes in one place while your muscles ache and your lungs feel like bursting will reinforce this concept.  So why put yourself through the pain?  Because when the struggle begins and you are pressing toward the goal you can’t borrow someone else’s strength or stamina.  You run with what you possess. 
This applies to our Christian walk as well.  When the trial is upon us we must stand.  No one is can stand for us.  No one can take our place.  We often pray for the Lord to deliver us or to remove the trial but if you have lived very long you know that most of the time we must go through those hard times.  When I was in Army basic training the drill instructors would require things of us that seemed impossible.  Discipline, exercise, instruction, and testing were all part of the process to turn eighteen year old boys into fighting men that would run toward the bullets instead of running away.  The promise of those instructors was simple, “we will strengthen you so that you will survive the attack of the enemy and overcome the aggressor.”  God is doing that very same thing in your life.  He will strengthen you!  He will prepare you.  He will help you!  I have heard the old saying “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day.  Teach a man to fish and he eats for life.”  Bailing us out of our trial only saves us for the day.  Strengthening us prepares us for victory every day.  God wants you to walk in victory so he is committed to His word, “I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you.”  Remember that the next time it seems like you are running on that treadmill of life.