Whom the Lord loves He chastens . . .” (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.
“. . . to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.
“. . . the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.
If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.
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Love Oswald Chambers – thank you for sharing.
Beautiful.
Love it. Good people must exhibit their faith in God’s grace even as the world around them seems to surrender to evil.
I’m not surrendering to evil. I am relishing in the God I love and trust:) Thank you for posting God’s strength.
Thanks for this. It came just at a time when I needed it. I have a sermon (from our Racine church) that I wanted to listen to today however didn’t get to it. This was just as thought provoking. Thanks! Love ya!
I could read your words a hundred times. I just want it all to sink in. Thanks for sharing!
At first glance of that photo, I thought it was Taylor with a relative! What a resemblance!
I can only hope that when my daughter is 16, I have raised her into the type of girl that you’ve raised your daughter.