The Secret of Strength

UV 3627/10000 The Secret of Strength For our fathers did not possess the land of Canaan by their own sword nor did their own arm save them, but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, because You favoured and delighted in them. Psalm 44 v 3 We have not succeeded in life on account of our own actions or strength or ability or hard work. We have been victorious as the Lord flashed His light upon us. He used His sword to sharpen us and to put our enemies to shame. He has ransomed us for the sake of His great love through Jesus, His Son. He has freed us. He commands victory and deliverance for us. He tramples those who rise against us like a raging bull. With one hand, He uproots and with the other, He plants. With one hand, He lifts up and the other He lowers, with one hand, He blesses, with the other He afflicts. With one hand, He tears down that which needs to be torn down and with the other He builds. With one hand, He creates, with the other He destroys. With one hand, He heals, with the other He afflicts. His word like His sword is double edged. We do not rely on our weapons or horses or chariots. We rely on the God of Israel who sees our every struggle and delivers us. We respond to the great love and grace of our Lord by continually boasting of what He has done in our lives. None of it is an empty boast but testimony or evidence of what He has actually done in our lives, the things we have seen, heard and experienced in our lives. We also remember what He has done in the lives of our fathers and fathers of faith and give thanks to the Lord. He has led us to a filling and an overflowing. He is the One who lifts our heads and satisfies us with the greatness and goodness of His agape love. He uproots the ones who oppose us without reason or tyrannises us without justification. His presence is both an overpowering light and a soothing shadow, a comforting joy. We do not rely on an arm of flesh or a sword of steel to defend us. We depend on the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, the One who left heaven for earth to save, defend and restore us from the hands of the enemy. Having come so far to save us, he gives us unflinching, unstinted support in all our endeavours. We who believe do all things in His name for His glory and by His grace. Hence, we have no reason to boast of our own strength or power or wisdom.