Monday, March 14, 2022

What Makes You Strong?

By Ron Thomas

 

    The answers vary but hear the Lord: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, Thy strength is small” (Proverbs 24:10, ASV). The practical application of this means I need to find something strong that I can wrap my arms around and hold on to when the tempestuous storm comes roaring through.

    One’s strength comes from one of two sources. It comes from man’s creation, or it comes from a source outside himself. If it is of man’s creation, then whatever value there is in the gaining of the strength found or created, what works today may not work tomorrow.

    I heard a story years ago of a man who wrote down all the powerful anecdotal thoughts he heard, knowing one day they would benefit him as he leafed through them in times of need or interest. The years came and went and, as it happens with all of us, what he thought in yesteryear was not the same as he was thinking on the day when he was leafing through his collected anecdotal thoughts from others. Realizing this, he threw all those anecdotal remarks away. There had to be a reason for it, wasn’t there?

    There was. It’s called the maturation of life. At 61, the wisdom I felt I had at 31 is gone. At 31, we had two girls at home and in school, I was serving in the United States Air Force (Idaho), and my wife was teaching elementary school on the Air Force Base (Mountain Home). At 61, with four grandchildren, in our physical home, there is only me and my wife. With 38 years of marriage, what I think now is different from what I thought then.

    It should be this way for everyone. After these many years of marriage, I look at my wife as my strength in the family setting; whatever strength she receives from me will be in the same family setting. Our strength is the Lord. He is the only One to whom we will give an account when my life is over.

    I want to be sure I hold on to Him in my many days of adversity. Is your strength small? If so, that is because you give up on the day of adversity.

- Ron Thomas preacher for the Sunrush Church of Christ, Chillicothe, OH. He may be contacted through the congregation's website. www.sunrushchurchofchrist.org


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