God is Strength
Where does your strength originate?
Verse of the Day
‘See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.”’
Today’s Devotional
There is power in repetition. Let’s look at Psalms 118:14: “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.” And in Exodus 15:2 we find: “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him— my father’s God, and I will exalt him!”
So, just to be clear, God is our strength. Any and all victory we have is from God.
The more I read, study, and pray over who God is, the more I am convicted of this: there is a big issue of giving credit where credit is due when it comes to strength and power. The Bible is very clear that all strength and power come from God. We just seem to live much of our lives without acknowledging that fact.
Let’s back up and just look at today’s verse. There are a couple of things that really stand out to me. First, victory seems to come AFTER acknowledging that God is the source of strength. I think we get stuck in a cycle of “trying harder”. Victory does not come from a great plan, or a well-executed strategy, or from a talented team. Victory is a gift. And that gift – which might include the use of a great plan, strategy, and team – comes when I can humble myself before the Source of strength and acknowledge my need for God. Then, as I partner with God and obey throughout the process, He walks me into victory.
The second thing that stands out to me is the declaration that “I will trust in him and not be afraid.” This is a decision. It is a declaration of intent. To make it plain, let’s compare this decision to marriage. Once I have decided to marry my husband and have followed through on the commitment, it’s done. It is a decision that then dictates my future decisions. No matter how I feel in any given situation, I will choose to honor my decision and declaration of marriage. Like last night, when I had to apologize for my behavior even when I did not want to and I certainly did not FEEL like apologizing. I apologize because it honors my husband and my marriage. And eventually my feelings align with my actions and I am glad that I decided to apologize. What if we looked at trust the same way? I can decide that I WILL trust God. Then when I need to act in a way that displays my trust, I will choose trust over fear or flight or control because of my commitment. Even when my feelings don’t align with trust. My decision and declaration to trust God will dictate my actions, because I have committed to trusting God. And when I don’t trust, because I am weak and human, God continues to save me by His strength. Because His commitment to us never fails.
In my journey to discover more of who God is, there is power in knowing that He is strength. He is my strength and your strength. He has come to save us, often from ourselves. Today, we can choose to acknowledge God as the true source of any strength we have. We can submit to His authority in any area where we need strength. And we can choose to trust Him and behave accordingly, even if our emotions are pulling us a different way.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How can you thank God for His strength today?
Where has God led you to victory in the past?
Where do you need God’s strength today? Write a prayer to Him asking for His strength.
How can you declare your trust in God today, no matter how you feel?