More than Emergency Backup?

Are you tired?
Knowing the reader audience as I do (I’ve been around youth ministry a long time), it doesn’t matter what time of day this is being read, I’m probably running an 85 percent “yes” rate  to that question.

We youth worker types get busy and consequently tired. Then we pray for strength. Is this how to rely on God’s strength, using God as emergency impulse power? Possibly, but this can’t be the only way.

Each of the passages below provides a different slant on God’s strength: situations in which He gives strength, who He gives it to, when He gives it and what happens as a result. As you read the passages, jot down different life situations that could be ministered to by the truth in each passage and make a note about each passage’s unique slant on strength.

Scripture Text
Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Philippians 4:12-13: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”

1 Timothy 1:12-14: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that He considered me trustworthy, appointing me to His service. Even though I was once a blasphemer, persecutor and violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

1 Peter 4:10-11: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If you speak, you should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If you serve, you should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Think About It
God’s strength comes in many forms, even in just these few passages. We see it as reinforcement for our physical weariness, as hope and perspective to fuel our perseverance. We see it as confidence (within Paul) for being chosen for sacred service despite a sordid past, and we see it as raw energy and enthusiasm—the kind that can only be explained by the presence of Jesus when we’re serving others.

Apply It
Where do you or your students need God’s strength: Learning contentment in a hard situation? Breaking from a mistake-heavy past? Serving other people? There are good reasons to rely more on God’s strength than our own: He gets better results and He gets the credit. Be a student of God’s strength for awhile; soon, when you’re asked if you’re tired, the answer might refreshingly be “No.”