Nancy Taylor Tate
I remember waking up at times with scriptures I had been praying singing inside me. The words of the verses would become a melody in my heart, a spontaneous song of worship to the Lord.
One particular morning the song inside me was so loud I had to turn off my stereo! Then I began to sing the words out loud as I worshiped the Lord. What life, energy, and joy were bubbling up inside me!
How I love scripture put to music! What a wonderful way for God’s word to settle in our hearts! Many beautiful choruses are scripture, put to music. One scripture I have sung for years is found in Isaiah 40:31.
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
In Revelation 3:21 we are told we are to overcome, even as Jesus overcame. If Jesus, as the son of man used His deity to overcome, then we can’t overcome the same way He did!
Jesus did not use His deity to overcome. Neither did He overcome using mere human strength. There was a divine enabling Jesus received, which empowered Him to fully overcome and fulfill the will of His heavenly Father.
We have a picture of this the night before His betrayal. Jesus went into the garden and prayed, and prayed, and continued in prayer. As He prayed an angel came and strengthened Him (Luke 22:43). Jesus received the divine enabling enabled He needed to fully overcome.
That same divine enablement available to us too, if we will, as Jesus did, take the time to receive it. Isaiah 40:31 tells us that if we spend time in the Lord’s presence the Lord will “renew” or “exchange” our strength.
He will give us His strength, in exchange for our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Once I understood this, I no longer tried to deal with things in my strength but took time to receive His strength. We can do all things in Christ Jesus! His grace (divine enablement) is truly sufficient. How we need His strength today!
Even knowing and understanding all this, still, a season came in my life where I was often tired. When I realized what was happening, I had to stop and repent for not taking the time to come to Him for His divine enabling and strength.
At times we need to stop and examine our lives. We have the enabling to do everything God has called us to do. If our energy falls, short we need to stop and see why. Are we trying to do more than God called us to? Are we taking the time to exchange our strength?
May we come to Him now, and continue to come, that we might receive His strength, power and wisdom. As we hold His words in our hearts, we can open our spirits to receive all He has promised in His word. Together, we can pray, “Lord, touch us, we need Your touch each day. Fill us with your strength and power. In Jesus name, amen.”