Where is Your Strength?

I remember as a kid singing in Sunday school, ‘My God is so big so strong and so mighty there’s nothing my God cannot do!’ We would make the actions and shout at the right places and something inside of me grew a little braver when I sang this—there’s ‘nothing!’ my God cannot do. Do you know that? Well, you likely know it, but do you believe it? Knowing and believing are two different things.

1 Samuel 5 is the story of the ark of God being taken into captivity by the Philistines. It’s the first time the ark has ever been captured, and Israel believes the glory (and power) of God is gone. I wonder how many Christians today have a similar feeling? They look around and wonder, ‘Where is God?’ and that old Sunday school tune agitates them rather than soothes them. But that is only one (small) part of 1 Samuel 5; the rest of the story is quite different. The gods of the land are broken, the people are shaken as the presence and power of God is revealed—they have never seen anything like this before, no ‘god’ has appeared like this! It’s as if Isaiah 46 is coming to life: ‘Who will you compare Me or make Me equal to. Who will you measure Me with?…for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like Me.’ It echoes Psalm 24:8 ‘Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.’ It is easy to look at our troubles and look at our troubled world and wonder: ‘Where is the glory of God?’ But never forget, do not be dismayed—our children can remind us ‘Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there is nothing (repeat that)…nothing, my God cannot do.’ Our confidence is in a powerful God. He carries you (Isaiah

46:3-4) from your youth to old age, He is faithful and the One who provides strength in our troubles.

What if you sang that song today? You might grow a little braver to face your troubles. ‘He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. / Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. / But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.’ (Isaiah 40:29-31)

-Pastor Ken Stoesz