Strength and Encouragement

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength – Isaiah 40:29

It is not hard to find someone who will give support to the powerful, attention to the famous, notice to the remarkable, or recognition to the accomplished. Virtually everyone is willing to jump on the bandwagon of some well-known, talented, or beautiful person.

But God gives encouragement to the faint. He gives strength to the exhausted. He does not join the crowds hurrying after celebrities; he seeks out the broken-hearted and the overlooked and gives them the greatest honor imaginable — his attention and his love.

This is not because God is a cosmic talent-scout, finding the individual diamonds in the many roughs throughout the world. It is to those who truly have no merit, who can stake no claim to his assets, who have no might that he sends reinforcements of strength and provision. It is God’s grace, not our value, that draws him to hurting, helpless humanity.

While this is humbling—even humiliating—to realize, it is also liberating and invigorating. We can let all our collected claims of good works and inherent worth fall around our feet as we reach out to a God who only heals the sick, who only mends the broken, who only gives strength to the powerless.

How do you see yourself? It doesn’t matter how others might describe you; perhaps they even consider you among the great, the mighty, the successful. But are you broken-hearted and helpless before the Lord? If so, then prepare for a strength infusion from the most High himself.