Ephesians 6:10-20

I’ve been knocked down. Nothing is working out. Everything is a mess. The country is a mess. Some or other Cabinet member bought trains for lots of money despite the engineers warning him that the trains are too high. Now the trains can’t go under the bridges. It upsets me when people waste money like this.

On Facebook church people are getting into arguments. No sense of loving your neighbour, of giving one another some space. They are fighting so much that those outside the church find them a laughing stock. It is upsetting when God’s people make such a mess.

Then there’s another old Jewish rabbi who announces with so much certainty that the Lord will come again before the end of the year. It makes me anxious, because I don’t know if I have finished my task here on earth.

It feels as if life is falling apart. It feels as if nothing is in control anymore and it affects how I feel. It’s as if a heavy burden is lying on my chest and I don’t know what to do. I become uncertain about everything.

I start feeling weak. I wonder if the black dog is waiting outside the door?

Desperately, I turn to God and finds these words of encouragement: ¹⁰… God is strong, and he wants you strong.

And a light is switched on and I understand why my feelings were so low, because you see, I had started running on my own fuel for a while. It was holiday time and the routine put aside somewhat, and together with that my walk with God also fell by the wayside.

I no longer spent enough time with God every day. And because I no longer got my strength from God, my batteries ran flat. I could not stay upright against the things of the world. My joy disappeared and darkness came over me.

People, why do we stumble so often here and forget about God? The net effect is that the world out there becomes too much, but we do know where our strength comes from. We will certainly not make it on our own!

Do you know the story about the mouse walking across the bridge with the elephant? As the mouse looked up at the elephant he said with a big smile: “Just look at the way we make this bridge shake”. And we can do the same – if we spend enough time with God.

God has enormous power that He puts at our disposal. When we spend time with God and walk with Him through life, we will have strength. No, the world is not going to change. Circumstances will not start smelling like roses in the foreseeable future, but at least we will get strength from God to walk through it with a song in our heart.

Maybe it’s a good idea to start spending even more time with God now. You wll receive strength!

Reflection

How much strength do you have?

How much hope do you have?

How much time do you spend with God?

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, You have so much strength and I know with all of my heart that You want to give it to each of us. But we visit you too seldom. We spend too little time with You. Therefore, I now confess my weakness and ask that You help me to spend more time with You. Amen