Gratitude Day 871

Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong! Be courageous! Do not be afraid of them! For the Lord your God will be with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you.”

When something challenging happens in our lives, we often say, “Be strong!!”

Why?

Truth? I did it myself this week. It’s been a tough week. My favorite Aunt Beverly passed away last weekend. She was 93. Many of you have sent her birthday cards, which she adored! Her passing wasn’t a complete surprise. Yet, it still is a loss. We will be saying goodbye to her this week.

In addition, I work part-time for an ag company and have for about 10 years. On Monday, my boss, the owner of the company, was killed in a vehicle accident. It is one of those awful things that simply happen.

He had a wife and a daughter that is a senior in high school. One of the early things Nelly, his wife, said to me was, “I have to be strong. For Bailey.”

Oh, how often this phrase gets used in situations like this! We’re not sure what to say and we feel we must stay something. But in the end, being strong all the time is impossible. Difficult. Unrealistic.

I found myself encouraging Nelly and her daughter to “be strong,” not really knowing if this possible or now. When someone is distraught, we often want to do SOMETHING. Unfortunately, this was my something. Even as I said the words, I wondered if they were helpful.

“Be strong” is so subjective. What it means to me may not be the same to you. It is also difficult to “Be strong” when you seemingly don’t get any positive changes and outlook. Your strong is not my strong and vice versa.

So, I shifted my perspective just a bit. Rather than encourage others to “Be strong,” now I am taking the approach and thinking, “Be strong in the Lord.”  What’s the difference? It’s not about an individual person being strong. It’s enlisting God to help you go through whatever you are dealing with.

There will be many, many times in this life when we will not be strong enough. We humanly cannot do it. The situation or event is just too much. There will be moments when we think we are strong enough and moments when we simply cannot be. Period.

Society encourages us to be strong. Wants us to be strong. It’s not totally wrong because challenges are going to happen. But we all have limits. These limits will and do change regularly. What we were able to deal with yesterday may not be the same as today.

So what can we do to help us make it through the times when we don’t have enough strength? Enlist additional help. Often, this comes in the form of a friend, a confidant, maybe even a counselor. These are all good and helpful. Believe me, I enlisted such help this week!

But it is also asking the Lord God Almighty to step in and be available as well. Mind you, God is ALWAYS there, whether we acknowledge God or not. The difference is when we go to God and ask for help, we open ourselves up to God’s strength and power.

Be strong in the Lord. Never give up. You are going to do great things. I already know.

These aren’t my words but the words found in a song, which you may want to listen to.  

Be strong in the Lord. My words for today.

Blessings –

Dianne

Holy God – Quite honestly, there are days when things are just too much. We want to be strong, but sometimes, this is simply too much. May we find strength in You today and every day. Amen.

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