He Strengthens Me

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

(Philippians 4:13)

Meditation

I can do a lot of things in my own power and strength, and they are all ways for me to get myself in trouble. Whenever I make a decision without prayerfully considering what I’m about to do, it usually turns into a disaster. Even when I manage to get things get things to work out, the journey would have been easier and been a lot smoother had I involved God in the decision-making process. My whole adult life, prior to my salvation, was riddled with one bad decision after another. Because I didn’t know the Lord, my relationships weren’t healthy. I picked friends because they could party with me, not because they really added anything to my spiritual well-being. I guess you could say my life was a long list of self-deprecating experiments. I was always hopeful for a good outcome, but rarely found one.

I was going along with the flow of the lost souls who blindly go through life without a real plan or direction. If an idea sounded good that made some guy millions of dollars, or made them healthier, or better looking, I would rush into trying to do the same. Those kinds of deals never worked out for me. I’m not saying God orchestrated the failures I experienced, but because he wasn’t part of the plan, it had no hope of succeeding anyway. The most important decision of anyone’s life is who they pick for a spouse. I didn’t know Christ during my first two marriages, so each one failed because of my selfishness. I didn’t consult him until I was ready for my third marriage. Praise the Lord, he has blessed me with a godly woman who has enriched my life in every way. The Lord strengthens our marriage because he is at the center of it.

Even after I was saved, I made decisions without consulting the Lord in prayer. I always end up wishing I had waited and prayed before making a move. I’m not even strictly talking about money decisions, although they seem to be more predominant. All I know is, whenever I let the Lord lead me, he strengthens me to accomplish whatever I’m trying to do. However, when I leave him out of my thoughts in everything, from where I’m going to go to church, to where I need to buy a new suit, I’m bound to make a mistake. His strength sustains me when I’m not even aware of it. When I fall back on his power through prayer, everything in my life works better.

Daily Prayer

Father God, you are the provider for all our needs. You knit us together in our mother’s womb. You push the first breath through our lungs at the moment of our birth. You give us an immortal soul that yearns for communion with you. You are the only one who can fill the hole in the heart that beats in our chest. You have all the power and we bow before your holiness, Lord. You give us the strength we need to get through each day. When our days get difficult, you give us the strength to overcome whatever comes up against us. There is nothing we cannot do, if we are acting in your will. Thank you, Lord, for that reassurance. We know that, whatever we are tasked to do, we do not accomplish anything in our own strength. You fortify us. Not just in the big, complicated, and physically hard things we have to do. It’s your strength that carries us through even the most mundane things we’re asked to do. Father remind us that in all we do, you are with us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!