Source of Strength

Read Romans 8:18-30

For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us - bodies that will never be sick again and will never die.

We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don't yet have - for a man who already has something doesn't need to hope and thrust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn't happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently. Romans 8: 22-25 (TLB)

Nike lives in the Riau Islands of Indonesia. Watching the eight o'clock television program one morning made Nike realize that the clock in their house has stopped. Nike shook and tapped the clock several times in an attempt to coax it back into action, but it didn't work. When he examined the clock more thoroughly, he found that the battery was loose. No wonder! Without a source of energy, no electronic object will function as it should, regardless of how sophisticated it may be.

This made Nike think about the times, he tries to rely only on his own abilities without turning to God for help. But this way of living just makes him fall into deeper difficulties. No matter how mature or independent Nike thinks he is, without wisdom and strength from God, his life will be incomplete.

Deciding to follow God wholeheartedly also means entrusting our lives to God. We don't rely on our own greatness anymore. Instead we respond according to the perspective we receive from God's word.

Prayer: Source of strength, help us to surrender our lives to your care, in Jesus' name. Amen.