God Is My Strength

The action of making oneself move or the ability to make something else move is considered as the force or strength exerted. Where then does strength come from? Some people say that strength comes from our muscles, and thus they have to make their muscles grow in order for them to become strong. Some say that strong bones are the source of strength. Others say that a balanced diet gives them maximum strength, so they try their best to eat healthy foods and even herbal medicines.

If this is how our bodies can gain strength, where does our spiritual strength come from? Our strength does not come from anyone else other than God. When a person encounters a difficult problem while living in the world, they usually try to find someone who has more power, wealth, or expertise than themselves and rely on that person to solve the problem. However, those who fully realize that God is the One who created the heavens and the earth and governs life, death, blessing, and disaster, can seek and rely on God to overcome all trials and hardships. Let us take some time to reflect on whether we are always living with the belief that God is our strength.

Make God Your Strength

The forefathers of faith overcame difficulties in any situation, relying on God and making Him their strength. They did not cling to wealth or worldly power, but lived in the joy of walking with God. To those who had such faith, God granted the eternal glory of heaven at the end of their lives.

On the contrary, those who relied on other gods such as Baal and Asherah, or on men and things of the world, were destroyed and faced a miserable end. We can find this in various parts of the Bible.

Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit. You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. Selah You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue! Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying, “Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” Psalm 52:2–7

Those who do not make God their strength, meaning, those who do not rely on God, rely on the abundance of wealth and eventually will come to commit evil. God said that He would destroy such a man, and that he will be brought down to everlasting ruin and torn from his tent. Ahaziah, king of Israel, was that type of person.

After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.” But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’ ” So Elijah went. 2 Ki 1:1–4

The Israelites believed in God Jehovah for generations. King Ahaziah, however, wanted to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, about his illness. He entrusted his future to a gentile god, not to God. Ahaziah, who did not make God his strength, was not cured and died in his bed just as Elijah had prophesied.

We need to think deeply about why this is recorded in the Bible. If we do not make God our strengh, we will have a heart like that of Ahaziah. When you are distressed, you look for a being who seems to give you joy and strength. Whenever Israel did that, they were invaded by other nations or unfavorable situations happened both in and out of the nation. Through tribulation, God awakened them to the presence of God and led them to seek God and depend on Him.

God Refines Us

We are now running the path of faith toward the eternal kingdom of heaven. There are many types of people on this path. Some people are taking a rest, feeling tired, and some are running restlessly. There are some who are tired of hardships and have sat down, while others are moving forward with more courage. The difference comes from the faith to regard God as one’s strength. Those who make God their strength never get tired on the way to heaven. Every day, they are happy and joyful, and new hopes spring up in them. It is because God Almighty, who does not grow tired or weary, gives us strength (Isa 40:28–31).

In our life, sometimes we are faced with unsatisfying situations. Sometimes we are put in a poor or unfavorable situation, and sometime we have to work with someone that is hard to deal with. If we try to solve our problems by relying on worldly knowledge, materials, or person who is better than ourselves, our suffering will only increase. We will face various situations, but there is always one answer. It is to rely on God.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Psalm 53:1–3

This is the way of thinking of the people who don’t make God their strength. However, God is still looking down on people to see if there is anyone who seeks Him, meaning, anyone who makes God their strength.

Actually, many people today are living without God. Some rely on or desire for power, while others try to have power through material possessions. They rely on their knowledge and fame, and regard them as their own pride and strength. God’s children must be different. Although we live in the age when people do not seek God, we must seek God who is the source of all our strength and always boast about Him.

[T]hose who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” 1 Samuel 2:10

God warned that those who oppose Him will be shattered. Not only do these people fail to depend on Him, but they also deny the existence of God. They even laugh at people who live according to God’s word. However, on the day of God’s glory, they will see how brilliant our lives actually were, because we lived in accordance with God’s teachings.

God refines His children like gold and silver to change them white and clean (Mal 3:2–3). Just as pure and precious metals can be obtained only when impurities have been removed through refinement in hot fire, we can be reborn and enter the kingdom of heaven only after undergoing refinement on this earth. I pray that all the Zion family members will always rely on God, who is the source of our strength, and enter the kingdom of heaven, following God’s guidance, while keeping in mind that the big and small difficulties we sometimes face are God’s providence to refine us and to lead us to the kingdom of heaven in the end.

Those Who Have Made God the Source of Their Strength

It was not because David relied on his own talents or abilities that he stepped forward boldly to fight against Goliath, whom even the veteran soldiers were afraid of. In the book of Psalms written by David, we can see that he always made God his strength and praised God, saying that God is his fortress, his shield, and his rock in whom he takes refuge.

I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:1–2

Isn’t it because he stepped forward with this faith that he was able to win the battle against Goliath? Not only David but also Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all other forefathers of faith mentioned in the Bible, as well as all the prophets who successfully carried out the work of God, always walked the path of faith, making God their strength.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Hab 3:17–19

Others may rejoice when their fields produce much food and when their sheep pens are filled with sheep and their stalls with cattle. However, although the prophet Habakkuk didn’t have many of those, he was joyful just for the fact that God was with him. It was because God was His strength.

What about us who are walking the path of faith in the Age of the Holy Spirit? Materials may be a source of strength and happiness to the people of the world, but we have the most precious one whom they do not have. Since God Elohim, who is the owner of the heavens and the earth and all things, dwells in us, what earthly things can be our strength or an object of envy? By proclaiming, “Christ Ahnsahnghong, the Savior of the Age of the Holy Spirit, is my strength,” and “Jerusalem Mother is my strength,” let us always boast about God and feel proud and joyful for the fact that God is with us.

“Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.’ ” Zec 12:5

When you are tired and exhausted by the things of the world, think of God. God Almighty who rules the whole universe in an orderly manner is with us, and He is our strength.

Our forefathers of faith made God their strength, relying on God as their light even in the dark. Their lives might have looked foolish from a worldly point of view, but they were the best ones in the eyes of God. They were able to do so because they realized the most important thing that we must realize on this earth.

The Secret of Having Faith That the World Is Not Worthy Of

We live in the Age of the Holy Spirit. Let us believe that the Holy Spirit, our Father Ahnsahnghong, and New Jerusalem, our Heavenly Mother, are our strength, and follow Their guide. When we do so, the power of the Holy Spirit will be emitted just as David defeated Goliath. No matter what a gigantic, mighty, and famous warrior Goliath was from childhood, what could he boast about in front of God? Even if one has the power to rule over the whole earth, the earth is nothing but a drop of water in a bucket and a speck of dust on the scales before God.

Since we are children of such a great God, we must have a broad perspective. Let us not be distracted by what will soon disappear, but take the steps of the gospel with God, who has no beginning or end, as the source of our spiritual energy.

[W]ho through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Heb 11:33–38

The saints of the early Church were in many difficulties and persecution, but they refused to be released from them. They knew that God was waiting for them in the kingdom of heaven along with tens of thousands of angels. That is why they refused to be released even when they were at the point of being martyred. They were able to lift up praise to God and always rejoice even while wandering around in the desert, in mountains, in caves, and in dungeons, because they firmly believed that they would enter the bright kingdom of heaven after passing through the dark tunnel. Their faith, which the world was not worthy of, could be manifested in such a way because they made God their strength.

The same is true for Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who kept their faith even in the critical moments when their lives were at risk. So did Joshua and Caleb, who were among the twelve who returned from spying on Canaan. The ten spies, who trembled in fear and grumbled, did not have God. They did not make God their strength, but Joshua and Caleb did. They shouted, “We will swallow them up,” in regard to the people of great size living there. It was not because they trusted in their strength, but because even those people of great size were nothing in the face of those who made God their strength.

If we are armed with God’s power, the obstacles that are blocking us become nothing. If we accept God as our strength, we can accomplish all the gospel missions before us. What God says and administers is surely accomplished (Isa 14:24). As the children of God Almighty, let us have more strength and courage, keeping in mind that God is with us wherever we go, not worrying even in the situation where there are no cattle in the stalls and the fig tree does not bud. Let us do our best to preach the gospel in Samaria and to the ends of the earth, so that we can fulfill the mission entrusted to us and expedite the eternal kingdom of heaven.