Strength in Weakness

Strength Through Weakness

The way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself. God poureth no power into man's heart till man's power is all poured out. The Christian's life is one of daily dependence on the grace and strength of God.

The Secret of Strength

Art thou proud, believer, because thou hast been profitable to the Church, and done some little service to thy times? Who maketh thee to differ, and what hast thou which thou hast not received? Hast thou shed a little light upon the darkness? Ah! who lit thy candle—and who is it who keeps thee still shining, and prevents thee from being extinguished? Hast thou overcome temptation? Hang not up thy banner; do not decorate thine own bosom with the glory; for who made thee strong in the battle? Who made thy sword sharp, and nerved thine arm to strike the foe? Remember, thou hast done nothing whatever of thyself. If thou be this day a vessel unto honor, decorated and gilded—if now thou art a precious vase, filled with the sweetest perfume, yet thou didst not make thyself so. Thou art the clay, but who is the potter? If thou be a vessel unto honor, yet not a vessel unto thine own honor, but a vessel unto the honor of Him who made thee. If thou standest among thy fellow-men as the angels stand above the fallen spirits—a chosen one, distinguished from them—yet remember, it was not any goodness in thyself which made thee to be chosen; nor has it been any of thine own efforts, or thine own power, which lifted thee out of the miry clay, set thy feet on the rock, and established thy goings. Off with the crown from thy proud head, and lay down thine honors at the feet of Him who gave them to thee. With cherubim and seraphim veil thy face, and cry, "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto His name be all the glory forever and ever."

And when thou art thus bowed down with humility, be thou prepared to learn this other lesson—never depend on thyself again. If thou hast aught to do, go not forth to do it leaning on an arm of flesh. First bow thy knee, and ask power of Him who makes thee strong, and then thou shalt come back from thy labor rejoicing. But if thou goest in thine own strength, thou shalt break thy ploughshare on the rock; thou shalt sow thy seed by the side of the salt sea upon the barren sand, and thou shalt look upon the naked acres in years to come, and they shall not yield thee so much as a single blade to make glad thine heart. "Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." That strength is not available to you so long as you repose in any strength of your own. He will help you if you confess your weakness; but if you are strong in yourself, He will take away his own power from you, and you will stumble and fall. Learn, then, the grace of depending daily upon God, so shalt thou be clothed with becoming humility.

Increase of Strength

The troubles with which the plants of God's right-hand planting are assailed when they are saplings are very inconsiderable compared with those which blow about them when they become, like cedars, strongly rooted. When we grow strong, so sure as our strength increases, our sufferings, our trials, our labors, or our temptations, will be multiplied. God's power is never communicated to any man to be laid up in store. The food which is given to strengthen us, like the manna which was gathered by the Israelites in the wilderness, is intended for immediate use. When the Lord puts upon our feet the shoes of iron which He has promised us in the covenant, it is that we may walk in them—not that we may put them into our museum, and gaze upon them as curiosities. If He gives us a strong hand, it is because we have a strong foe to fight with. If He shall give us a great meal, as He did Elijah of old, it is that we may go for a forty-day's journey in the strength of that meal.