Day 16

Day 16 – August 23, 2021 – Erin Thompson

Psalm 18:1-3 

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

Strength: the quality or state of being physically strong, the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure.

In life we can start to rely on our “own” strength, and we often forget where that strength comes from. We tend to be reminded of where our real strength comes from when we are facing hardship. This passage talks about how God has equipped us with His strength to be saved from our enemies. What greater way to be at peace than to be reminded that God is our stronghold? If you read further in this passage, you can get a glimpse of the power of God. He moves Heaven and Earth to save His children! Personally, I believed that I could be my own stronghold, that I could do it on my own. I stretched myself thin, I carried the weight of the world on my shoulders, I crumbled. Like David in this passage, I cried out. To be able to feel the strength of God fighting for me was the best sense of peace one could ever experience. I felt whole, I felt new and I felt loved. To experience the protection of God doesn’t take some great show, all you have to do is call out to Him. Whether you do that with tears streaming down your face on your knees in your college dorm room in the midst of one of your many breakdowns, through worship, or just merely asking. It doesn’t matter how you do it. Just do it. If He brings you to the struggles, He will bring you through them. You can save yourself a lot of hardships if you recognize how you are able to face life, not because of anything you can do, but what God has given you the ability to do. In this passage, God tells us He is our fortress, He delivers you, He is our rock, our shield, He is the horn of our salvation, and our stronghold. He promises us these things, not because of how loud we sing in worship, or how often we pray, or our ability quote scripture. We are promised those things because we are children of God, it is our birthright when we confess our sins and are born again through Him. Rest easy that our God has almighty strength.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I thank you for the contentment that your strength has given me. I pray for those that are still relying on themselves and struggling. I pray that you cover them in your salvation. I lift up my family, our congregation, our community, and our country. I pray that you continue to give us your strength and protection as we continue to face hardships. In your name we pray, Amen.