Sunday, September 14, 2008

What Is Your Strength?

I love a good, strong cup of coffee. I really don't think it can be too strong....maybe too old, but not too strong. The thing is if it's a little strong, you can always add some cream or sweetener, but nothing can enhance a weak cup of coffee. The best thing to do with it is pour it down the sink!

My life verse is Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." The making of a strong Christian requires many things, but one thing God uses is waiting on Him. This is not an easy process. We live in a time of instant everything....instant oatmeal, instant coffee (yuck!), microwave dinners, drive-thru banking, drive-thru pharmacies, even drive-thru wedding chapels. We seem to expect everything to happen instantly and easily. In reality, life just doesn't always work that way. And many times, in the life of a Christian, it is because God is working to strengthen us.

A weak cup of coffee is rather worthless. It has little taste, and certainly won't put any pep in your step! A weak Christian also has little value. A Christian is to honor Christ and to reflect Him in our lives. We should cause people to desire to "taste and see that the Lord is good." When we are weak, we are a poor reflection, and we will put a bad taste regarding Christianity in the mouths of people around us.

Unless you have a super-speedy coffee pot (which I don't), a good, strong cup of coffee is going to take a little time. Strength in our Christian life will not happen overnight. God develops strength in us as we learn to wait on Him, as we learn to trust Him when we do not see Him working, as we learn to follow based only on His Word, and not on any outward evidence of the result we desire.

This week on CoffeeLotte, we want to examine how strong we are in our marriages, as mothers, in our homes, and churches. Where would you rank yourself? How does the Lord view strength, and how does that differ from what we traditionally view as strength?

If you are waiting on the Lord in some area of your life, "be of good courage". God is working, even if He is waiting. He will strengthen your heart. "Wait, I say, on the Lord."

2 comments:

Becky said...

Welcome to the world of blogging. :) Looking forward to following along.

sarahx4kids said...

Thank you for this devotional. It was a huge encouragement to me. I was referred to this page from Janelle. I'm going through some scary things right now and sometimes I wonder if the Lord has abandoned me. It is encouraging to know that he is just waiting on me to be "stronger" from all of these circumstances. I look forward to reading more!