Happiness's Source of Strength
Inner strength is a character quality we admire, even in those who are physically weak, maybe especially in those who are physically weak. I think of a few special individuals who, though weak through chronic illness, were spiritual dynamos. You could never catch them in a down time. When people visited them to cheer them up, they would leave cheered up. These people didn’t complain. They didn’t cave in to the temptation to give up. They accepted their lot, made the best of it and lived with grace.
What’s more, in spite of their problems, these people seem to be genuinely happy. Dave is one man who falls into this category. He has a debilitating condition which has left him largely immobile and has robbed him of anything approaching dexterity in the use of his fingers but he sends me an email every week or so. I know it costs him significant effort to type even a few lines, but he regularly sends me things of interest and internet links to things he’s enjoyed. Sometimes they are theological in nature, often as not, they are humourous. He laughs easily and often and enjoys sharing the sources of his pleasure.
I can’t speak for every one of these indomitable souls who successfully rise above their problems, but I know Dave's secret. His strength is in God - that is, God is the source of his strength. When robbed of sleep, Dave makes his way to his computer and in the dark hours of the night interacts with people in need on the internet. His strength comes through loud and clear then. God uses Dave’s unique combination of spiritual strength and physical weakness to help people who might otherwise be overlooked.
Dave, and others like him, are living examples of the truth we find in Psalm 84:5 where we read: “Blessed (happy) are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion (ESV). Our weaknesses fade into insignificance when we find our strength in God instead of looking inside ourselves, or other sources around us. These can be stripped away at a moment’s notice. The strength God offers never fails.
Most of us recognize areas in our lives that we see as “weak.” It might be our looks, our talents or abilities. It may relate to intellect, emotional stability, and other things of the mind. For some it’s their relationships, for others employment (or lack thereof). One area in which we are all weak is the spiritual realm.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul indicates that we are all weak because of our humanity (“flesh” is the word which is usually used in the Bible). (See Romans 8) The sad fact of the matter is that whether or not we are aware of it, we come into this world in a “spiritually dead” condition. We are inclined away from God from birth. Unless God were to draw us to Himself, we would go on in that way until the end of our physical life, and from there, into eternal loss and destruction.
But God does draw us to Himself. He does it through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 5:6 we read that “when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” We were spiritually weak - without strength. Just as the dead can do nothing for themselves, outside of Christ, we, too, are helpless. It was while we were still in this condition that Jesus died for us. He made it possible for us, who were spiritually dead, to respond to God - to approach Him.
This is where real happiness comes from. We recognize that we are helpless and hopeless. We have no strength. Without other recourse, we acknowledge that God is our strength. He is the One who gives us spiritual vigour. That spiritual life is such that it can be expressed in difficult circumstances, in broken bodies, in disadvantaged intellects, in weaknesses of every kind.
Just as relying on yourself instead of on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation is fruitless, so is trying to make yourself happy without looking to God for inner strength.
Happy people rely on God as their source of strength.
Ron Hughes
© November 2007
