Our God Strengthens Us

 I am afraid that many of us feel very weak and unable to cope with the stresses of life most of the time. We try to retreat into our private space and forget our cares. Some people resort to alcohol or drugs. Others just get wrapped up in things that will distract them from reality, like video games and the Internet. None of these things bring relief and strength for us. Only God is the Source of real strength for us.

Daniel was perplexed by the dreams and visions he saw, so he cried out to God for understanding. Then, he was overwhelmed and fell to the ground, feeling very weak. (Daniel 10:19) At that time God's messenger to Daniel gave him the message from God. He said, "O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong." So when he spoke to Daniel, he was strengthened, and Daniel asked him to speak to him, because he had strengthened him. Daniel's strength came straight from God.

What the angel told Daniel is true for every Christian today, and it should bring us great strength, too. I pray that we all realize that we are greatly beloved by God. He gave Jesus to die for our sins and rise again for our salvation. We should never shy away from going to God when we feel stress or have a need. We should never fear, because the Lord is right with us, and He will fight for us, or He will show us what we need to do in any given situation. We just have to call on Him like Daniel did. 

He is ready to give us His peace, so we can live in it every day. We can be be strong, knowing that God wants us to be strong. That is His will for us. He knows we are weak, but He wants to be our strength. He will speak words of strength to our hearts, if we will call out to Him, and when He speaks strength to us, we will have all of the strength we need. See what I mean? God is the Source of our strength, but we have to look to Him in every time of need, and even when things are going well, so we will have His strength ready for every challenge.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Daniel 11-12 and Hosea 1.