I've got the power: strength from the outside in.
Yes, you read that correctly. From the *out*side IN. The popular narrative is that strength comes from inside yourself. I “get” what the ill-defined “they” are trying to say, but I’m still going to push back a bit.
Strength and empowerment come from outside of oneself.
Let me explain.
Strength and power. It’s easy to write about them in a fun, highly marketable kind of way. Cutesy, insta-worthy quotes and graphics that affirm our inherent desire for them.
Punchy tweets that tell us how to obtain them (and in under 280 characters no less).
Long-winded Facebook posts that do all of the above in a highly spiritualized way, so it must be gospel truth.
It takes very little to write about concepts, attach appealing graphics to them and garner lots of likes (read: affirmation) that appeals to the human desire for strength and power.
It’s hard to live them however, when real life comes along and sucker punches all the quotes and graphics right out of your tenuous grasp. When you're backed against a wall. When you’ve run out of options. You’re exhausted. Depleted. Probably some betrayal and bitter disappointment thrown into the mix.
What then?
Strength and power. What are they supposed to look like in practical terms outside the insta-box we’ve shoved them into?
It would be very easy to throw in some scripture right here and leave it at that. Scripture such as Isaiah 40:29 says, “He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak.”
We often think one verse is all it takes to solve our own problems, or help others solve theirs.
No, but also yes.
Yes, Scripture should be our go-to source of all wisdom and answers to life’s deepest questions.
But no, simply throwing one verse at a hungering soul searching for answers doesn’t solve much. We turn Scripture into little more than the world’s biggest library of Instagramable quotes rather than understanding that Scripture is a collective, life giving, body of work pointing us to grace and overarching salvation beyond our here and now.
So having said that, what if we actually did take God at His word, as it reads, and applied it to our daily lives?
What if we stopped making excuses about why His word is only spiritual, and not practical?
What if we actually believed not just in God but believed Him, as the very real person that He is?
What if we stopped looking for strength outside of Him, and allowed Him to be our source of life itself?
What if we actually made HIM a priority?
I wrestle with the very message I am trying to communicate through this piece. My head knows, without a doubt, that Jesus is my source of strength and power. I have enough life experience to know that anything or anyone else outside of Him will fall short. Like Simon Peter said when Jesus asked if he wanted to leave Him too, after many followers had left Him: “Where else would I go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Yet, I keep seeking Him, outside of Him. I do it in much more sanctified ways than in the past, which fools me into thinking that I am seeking HIM, but no… I still do it. In the past, for example, it might have been through work, or entertainment.
Nowadays it may be leafing through my mother’s 1960’s Apple A Day cookbook searching for old school vegetarian recipes in an attempt to solve something of an existential crisis by baking Special K Loaf. The Spirit was quick to point out that I was looking in a cookbook, of all places, for answers, rather than God.
Sounds unmedicated, I know. But A) That’s something that really happened, and B) That’s how deep in the weeds of our lives God wants to be that He can even speak to us through crusty old cookbooks. (To be clear: there is no inherent sin in wanting to make Special K loaf on your own for the first time.)
In other words, it’s so easy to look for God in any and everything but Him; things, people, hobbies, accomplishments, good and praiseworthy as they may be.
But what He wants for us is to look to Him. Just. HIM. Person to person, heart to heart.
That’s what He’s been putting on my heart for a long time. The kind of strength and power I long for in my life are all not just from Him, but HIM. They come from seeking Him above all else. By making HIM a priority in how I spend my time.
By allowing ALL of His word to fill every nook and cranny in my life. By wholeheartedly believing and embracing that His word is so powerful and life-giving that it makes its way into my physical being to bring real healing, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
If I allow it.
If I stop making excuses.
Even when I don’t understand it all on an intellectual level.
Even when it requires “giving up” certain things (which really isn’t really giving up anything of greater value than what He’s offering). ”What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)
Even when it seems counter intuitive: “The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” (I Corinthians 1:25)
I have to trust that His ways are not my ways, and that His ways are infinitely superior to my ways, and my thinking. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
When Jesus’ disciples met Him at Jacob’s well after his conversation with the Samaritan woman, they offered him food thinking He must be famished from the long day of walking that led them there. Jesus’ answer: “I have food to eat that you do not know about. My food is to do the will of my Father who sent me.” (John 4:32-34)
Job, in the midst of his horrific health and financial trials, said “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12)
I’m starting to “get” what that means in a way I never have before. Seeking God, knowing Him, wanting to do His will, it truly does fill our hearts with such fullness that even our physical being responds to it as well.
That’s power.
Think of it this way – when you’re enjoying someone’s company so much, sometimes you don’t even feel hungry. When you’re having so much fun doing something you enjoy sometimes you even forget to eat. And you don’t even miss it. And yet you feel spunkier and more alive than ever.
If human enjoyment and pleasure can fill our souls with so much strength, and make us feel empowered to the point that physical food is the last thing on our minds, how much more can God’s wisdom, strength, and power do for our lives?
Don’t be fooled by the often-ostentatious displays of apparent power and strength on social media. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that a lot of it, even some of the highly spiritual looking kind, is not from God.
Don’t let it discourage you from thinking you aren’t strong or empowered just because yours doesn’t look like theirs, or because you struggle sometimes. True strength and power are often quiet, and content to just be, without the need to display themselves often. (And yet the flip side of that is that genuine, God given strength and power are so real and impactful that even in spite of our best efforts against it, they can end up on display).
Strength and power: here’s some perspective.
God is the only self-existing, self-sustaining being in the universe.
Let that sink in.
You are not.
And neither is any fictional world of entertainment created for escapism, nor any man made system of truth or success. A lot of times these collective entities want to make you think that they, and the technology, money, beauty, fashion, entertainment, or political power they offer are self-existing, all powerful, self-sustaining, and have life all figured out.
Nope.
Even the tallest buildings in the world need a power source outside of themselves to light up the night skyline with their twinkling lights. The world’s richest, most powerful and influential people in the world need food and water to stay alive. Pretty sure even Her (late) Majesty relished a good nap now and then to renew her strength. In other words, all created beings, and the things they create, need something outside of themselves to exist, let alone to thrive.
And that outside of self is God alone. His Word. His friendship. His presence. His will. Day in and day out. On good days, and on the dumpiest ones. You’re connected to the ultimate source of power and strength. You’re going to be more than Ok.
And yes, you will still feel physically hungry now and then. That’s normal. That’s what Special K loaf is for.
Ain’t life grand.
