Tag: Faint

Kicking and Screaming

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.”

Psalms 86:16  Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalms 69:16     Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

Psalms 90:13     Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!

Psalms 119:132    Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.

Psalms 84:5     Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Psalms 138:3     On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.

Isaiah 40:29     He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Zechariah 10:12     I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the LORD.

Ephesians 3:16     that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Philippians 4:13     I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Why is it important to have the right source for inner strength?  Where does true inner strength come from? How does it appear in our life?  Living this side of eternity will have it’s battles.  Walking into these battles there are times we walk with God, times God carries us through them, and times when He drags us kicking and screaming through them.  In Him alone will there be strength to face whatever comes our way.  In Him we have no fear of tomorrow.  In Him there is peace that passes all understanding.  The times we walk with God to face head that which is before us are during times when His Holy Spirit fills us, we are listening and in tune with His leading, we walk fully trusting and relying on His power.  The times He is carrying us are during those times when life hits us with a punch so hard it takes the wind from our sail and we can’t seem to move or find out way through it.  He picks us up and carries us in His power, strength, might, and love.  His arms wrap around us and we find comfort, refuge, and hope.  The times He drags us is when we don’t listen, we shut Him from our life, we walk apart from Him and try to go our own way.  We think we are in control and have no need for Him or His word of truth.  It seems as though God drags us into a battle so big with so much uncertainty, where we truly can’t seem to find our way through it.  Our own strength is drained to a point we quit kicking and screaming and seek Him for we have tried to handle it on our own.  We find peace, hope, joy, and comfort.  I don’t know where you are but the best place to be is humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying God.  Spend time in His word and build your faith in Him who can do all things. In Hi who can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.

Refuge / Rock / Shelter

“ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

“He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.”

“For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.”

Psalms 61:1  Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;  from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,  for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!

Psalms 5:1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning.  Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.

Psalms 55:1  Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!  Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,

Deuteronomy 4:29    But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Psalms 139:9  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,  even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Psalms 18:46   The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation

Psalms 62:2   He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

What keeps us from calling on God and seeing Him as a place of refuge and our fortress?  Could it be we don’t see a need for Him in our life?  I wonder if our need for God is a direct correlation to amount of time we spend in His word.   Scripture clearly tells us to seek Him, desire Him, obey Him, believe Him, trust Him, rely on Him, love Him, hope in Him, sing to Him, have peace in Him, praise Him, pray to Him, and listen to Him.   When we spend time in His word the more we hear His quiet voice leading us down paths that bring honor and glory to Him.  How can we call on someone we hardly know?  How can we hold on to His promises if we don’t know what they are?  How will we know sin in our life if we can’t compare our actions with what is expected in His word?  We become passive, complacent, lukewarm, and have an appearance of being close to God but in reality our substance is shallow words without action.  Action from the heart that leads us to repentance, action from the heart the leads us to give, action from the heart that allows us to forgive, action from the heart that leads us to praise, action from the heart that leads us to confess, action from the heart that allows us to be wronged, action from the heart that runs to God.  We would do well to spend time in His word, listen for His whispers of guidance, follow and obey Him.

Prayer to Praise

“Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.”

“For he has delivered me from every trouble”

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Psalms 54:1   O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.  O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Psalms 26:1  Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

Psalms 43:1  Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!  For you are the God in whom I take refuge;

Psalms 55:1-2   Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!  Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,

Psalms 28:7    The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalms 140:7    O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.

Exodus 15:2    The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Isaiah 40:31   but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Zechariah 10:12    I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the LORD.

Ephesians 6:10   Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

We all come up against trials and troubles throughout this life.  We can take note of David and how he brought these trials before God, almost like a complaint, but he always ends in praise proclaiming God’s love, mercy, might, strength and his faith in it.  Acknowledging our trials and troubles to God, our heavenly Father, should be natural.  Likewise we should have continual praise for Him and proclaiming our faith in His power, might, sovereignty, strength, love, mercy, and grace.  Try this for a week.  Read His word for 5 minutes each day and highlight His promises.  These promises are your building blocks for praise because not only do we see what He has done but what He is doing and will do.  Take your problems to Him and lay them in His hands.  Trust in His promises to never leave you or forsake you, to have steadfast love for you, to be your strength, your rock, your power, your refuge, your joy, your peace, and your hope.  In Him you will find rest and reason for hope.

Strengthened Himself

“Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.”

“But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.“

Psalms 42:5  Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Psalms 27:13-14    I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!  Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Psalms 43:5   Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Psalms 55:4  My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.  Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.

Psalms 61:2    from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,

Psalms 142:2  I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.  When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

Psalms 56:3    When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Psalms 56:11   in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Isaiah 50:10    Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

Lamentations 3:24  “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Romans 4:20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,

Psalms 91:15  When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

There times we all hit a wall of despair, worry, and our heart is troubled.  Life this side of eternity will throw this at us when we least expect it.  We have God’s promise that when we call to Him He will answer. When we are in trouble He is with us.  He will rescue us.  Do not allow unbelief to sink in.  Hold firm, trust God, and wait for His steadfast love to lift you up.  Not everyone is going to be able to strengthen themselves.  We each have opportunity to be used by God to help lift up those who are in times of trials.  Keep your ears open to His leading and be willing to listen and obey. Being used by God to encourage others in times of trial is what our walk with God should include.  Knowing His word and rightly applying it helps us to encourage and support others with His honor and glory in focus.

Joy comes in the morning

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

Psalms 30:5  For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

2 Corinthians 4:17   For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

Isaiah 57:15-16   For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.  For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.

Isaiah 54:7-8   For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.  In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.

Psalms 63:3   Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

Psalms 16:11  You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Matthew 5:4   “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

2 Corinthians 7:9-10   As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.  For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Psalms 59:16   But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

But joy comes in the morning.  It is not fun spending time grieving, in distress, weeping, and having heart deep hurt.  Yet in this life it seems as though it does find us when we do not expect it.  Where do we turn in these times for comfort?  Who is able to ease the burden in our heart?  It is God.  We have seen those who do not trust God and their grief and anger over the distress they are in never goes away.  We see others and possibly ourselves that have passed through this time of trouble and recognize it was God who carried us.  The night time of trials, grieving, distress, and heart deep hurt is followed by “joy in the morning”.  I am not sure how or what God is able to do that turns these heart hurts into joy but I know it happens.  We have all seen loved ones who are in times of hurting and our soul would do anything to remove it.  It is God who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death onto green pastures.  It is He alone who lifts us up out of the darkness into light.  No one likes going through these times alone and it surely seems like that at the time.  God is there.  We should be ever ready to be used by God to be an encouragement and help to those hurting.

 

how long must I wait

” but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Psalms 27:13  I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Psalms 42:5   Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

Psalms 56:3  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

2 Corinthians 4:13  Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,  knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

Psalms 130:5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

Isaiah 8:17  I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

Romans 8:25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Lamentations 3:26   It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

1 Corinthians 16:13   Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Psalms 31:24  Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!

Isaiah 40:31  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Waiting for God is not easy when our culture seems to have instant access, instant supply, instant satisfaction.  Faith trusts in God, relies on God, clings to God, and waits for God’s timing, plan, and purpose.  What part of trusting God puts time limits on His steadfast love?  What part of relying on God puts time limits on His perfect plan for our lives? What part of clinging to Him sets time limits on when God responds?  What part of waiting in faith puts time limits on when God will act?  Abraham was promised he would be the father of many nations when he was 75 years old and did not see this fulfilled for 25 years.  Would we wait 25 years?  Abraham was then asked to sacrifice his first born.  Though he did not do it because god stopped him, his faith was never wavering in trusting God, clinging to God, relying on God.  We do well to wait and trust.  God is our hope, strength and peace.

Move Forward

Tell the people of Israel to go forward

Joshua 23:1
A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.

Exodus 14:14
When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt:‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward

Deuteronomy 20:3
‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies:let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory

 

It is good to again be reminded to remember what God has done and more importantly who has given you the victory.  Also to be reminded that it is God who “Goes With You” and though we see victory it is because of what He has done.  We see these victories when we are trusting Him and are obedient.  I love the verse in Exodus “Tell the people to move forward”.  Think about it – they had the Red Sea in front of them and the very mad Egyptian army approaching from the rear.  Many times we find ourselves with no apparent way out of a situation, trial, or battle.  Sometimes we are told to be still and watch God work.  Other times we are told to move forward against something impossible.  In both cases we need to remain firm in our faith to trust God and to be listening to what He is telling our heart.  In both instances there is victory because the battle is not ours but God’s.  He is all powerful and able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  What are you facing alone today that would be much better off in the Hands of God?

Place of Rest

walk in it, and find rest for your souls.

Joshua
‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.

isaiah 11:10
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it. ’
I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet! ’
But they said, ‘We will not pay attention. ’
Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.

Isaiah 40:28
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

I see this happening over and over again.  In times of trials and heavy burdens people turn to God for peace and rest.  They come to a place where “doing it on their own” is not working out and the desire/seek God’s hand in their life.  Why is it that we “run” to God when we are finally broken but in times of little to no trials or burdens we seem to not see the need for God?  Could it be that our walk with Him is superficial?  What does it say about a life that only seeks God when times are rough?  What would you think about a son or daughter who only spoke to their earthly father when they needed something or were in trouble?  They never went to see their father any other time.  They never invited him to any part of their life.  Only when they were in need did they contact him.  I am confident you get the point – God, our heavenly Father, wants our heart desire to be for Him, to serve Him, to seek what His purpose is for us each day.  To stay in His word we find words of direction, hope, peace, rest…. To stay in His presence is peace and rest.  Learn to live in His presence every moment.