Monday, May 23, 2011

Strength and Wisdom for Each New Day

Daniel 10:19 - And he said, "O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!" So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me." 

Although this was a word to Daniel through an angel, the angel was sent by God. And it was through God that Daniel received his strength. A Matthew Henry Bible commentary for this scripture says this: God by his word puts life, and strength, and spirit into his people; for if he says, Be strong, power goes along with the word.

I was looking for a word from God to soothe my soul on Sunday after awakening with an unsettling feeling inside. Even praying that I would be clothed in the whole armor of God didn't chase the feeling away. In time I (maybe God?) had it boiled down to my needing His strength. As I drove to church in a bit of a funk I prayed He would speak to me in any way He desired.
He spoke and He spoke. And I was strengthened. There is nothing at all like a relational God who chooses to speak to us when we want to listen and hear. We have just finished up a study on The Power of a Whisper, Hearing God by Bill Hybels. We did a recap on all the ways God speaks to us, which can be in several different ways. So my being in that class and other events that morning...just being in church...was part of hearing Him speak through others...through the words of God they spoke...not their own words. The truth and nothing but the truth!

The strength for each new day begins with the Lord: spending time with Him, sitting at His feet, listening to Him speak, conversing with Him and petitioning Him for what His desires are for you for that day...for the wisdom and strength in the midst of things.

Wisdom is a good thing to ask for. Wisdom is our foundation to knowing how to live life. That wisdom comes when we are in relationship with Jesus Christ and the truth becomes known to us. This relationship is often seen by some as foolishness. 1Corinthians 1:18 - For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. It is His strength and His power that should be our firm foundation. His wisdom is right, true, just. Being guided by His wisdom (and strength) brings success. 

Our Pastor, Rory Grooters, talked about King David's son, Solomon. If you recall it was he who wrote over 3,000 proverbs--tips on living life--and the Book of Ecclesiastes which basically tells us there is there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

When asked by God what the one thing was that he wanted, Solomon requested wisdom. As a king he had to have a clear picture of all events surrounding him. He had to be able to discern the next step in all things...like a chess game, Pastor Rory explained. Wisdom would be the best thing a person could have. Because God was pleased with Solomon's request He granted him all the other good things anyone could desire. 

Where does strength fit in here? We can get caught up in the busyness of life sometimes, even to the point of missing time with the Lord. Days become confused and disjointed. Nothing seems to go right. There's an unsettling feeling within. Sometimes God's Spirit will prick our conscience to get our attention. Strength is needed to hear and react...and seek the wisdom to know what needs to change that we stop the busyness and return to the Lord.

Psalm 46:1 should be a psalm to keep in the forefront of our minds: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. It's all about Him. He is the very foundation, as we discussed in Sunday school and which was brought up in church. He is the Word made flesh and the Word which is the Bible itself. He is the Word which gives us this wisdom. Getting caught up in busyness saps our strength and we have not sought wisdom.

So, in order to have that strength for each new day we must be in His foundational Word, to listen to His Word speak to us. We must be centered in His Word that it would give us wisdom, as well as strength. In yoga terms it often said that one is to center themselves...I don't advocate yoga. There's quite a big difference between that centering (which is about self) and being centered in God. Being in Christ is just that, being centered in God. It must be in and through God.

Exodus 15:2 - The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will exalt Him.  

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