Inner Strength. Do You Have It? If not, How do You Get It?

by SarahBeth White



From His glorious, unlimited resources He will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit.~Ephesians 3:16

It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks, to go forward with a great desire forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal. ~Helen Keller Life's challenges. We meet them every day. They challenge our inner strength. If anyone on this earth had inner strength, I would say that it was Helen Keller. And the fact that she recognized prayer as part of her arsenal speaks loudly to us. She overcame unbelievably difficult adversities in her life. If you are unfamiliar with Helen Keller, I would recommend you do a simple search for her name and you can get that quick blurb of information that our lives focus on now.

Meanwhile, what about our reactions to life's challenges? In comparison to what the Apostle Paul and Helen Keller went through, my present challenge seems so petty. Although I have my eyesight, speech, hearing and a sound mind, I struggle with building a successful home based business. I do not know why it is taking longer than expected to get the results I had hoped for. Well, one reason or excuse is that I was laid off my job and had little money to bring to the table. So I try each day to work harder using the free advertising that is available to anyone.

When the inevitable challenge hits us, will we fight or fold? We often hear fight or flight as options to situations. Pick your battles. When challenges come, will we continue to fight or fall apart? Paul, the author of this scripture, fought many inward battles and faced extremely difficult situations. So he had reason to pray for believers asking God's Spirit to provide that inner strength for them; that believers would be strong in the challenges facing them.

What clouds this picture further is that some of us have this cocky attitude of "bring it on" and "give it your best shot" believing we can handle anything the day brings our way. But if we honestly assess our previous battles, most of us would have to admit we have lost more than we have won. Without that inner strength, we will eventually give up. And if we as Christ's followers give up, we have been robbed of our Christian living and service.

Furthermore, we are not going to delight God by choosing to fight battles on our own even if we have fought well. Paul reminds us we are not on our own. I remind myself often that my life is not my own. We can ask God to supply the inner strength we need to do His will; the inner strength to live and serve Him. When we do this, that inner strength will come from His riches and bring Him glory.

Often I start my day feeling confident and ready to force my business on anyone who will listen. I have learned the hard way that if I choose to go it alone, I am going to get kicked in the stomach. All the self-help books in the world cannot provide the inner strength that God offers. You can convince yourself through various behavioral techniques that you can meet life's challenges by yourself. But nothing you can do by yourself can give you that inner strength from God.

Unfortunately, many have no one they can turn to for help. And oft times we do not want people to know about our personal struggles so we listen to advice coming from various directions, pick an answer we can put our faith in, and go out to wage war on the challenge du jour. And if you make it through that challenge, you know that there will be more waiting for you. Or maybe you are facing one big struggle that permeates your entire day as does business startup. It just keeps coming at you and coming at you whenever you feel you are strong enough to get back into the fray.

Even though we might see ourselves as mighty warriors taking on whatever life throws at us, at the end of the day where do you stand? Did you conquer those demons by yourself or did you have the courage to ask for help? And it does take courage to break down and let someone else know that you cannot go it alone. We do not want people to see our weaknesses because all too often they will turn around and use them against us. I do not want to tell anybody that my business is not producing as I expected it to by this time. Failure is not an option so I will persist until it does.

In contrast to what the world might offer in the way of giving you inner strength, God is the only true recourse. He is our refuge. If we choose to go it alone and possibly win that battle by ourselves, tomorrow will just send us something more challenging. What will you do then? Do you tell yourself that this is just life's way of making you a stronger person? Or do you admit that going it alone won't work in today's battle. We all want to be seen as viral, successful and able to conquer all comers but for a lot of us that is just a facade. The sooner we learn to ask Him for His help, the sooner we will have that true inner strength.

As I grow in my inner strength, I have more time to spend with my dog, Mo, my son, family and close friends because of this: http://cattleon1000hills.com/?site=VDavidA If you are interested in a business that will test your inner strength but will reap huge rewards, see what you find out about yourself by checking into this opportunity. At this site you will be hearing the success story of a friend whose story is not unique to this business. No cattle or land for sale but a fantastic opportunity.


About the Author
Internet Marketing Strategist and Social Media Enthusiast working under the business name of Cattle on 1000 Hills. Author enjoys whole array of outdoor activities such as hiking with her dog, Mo, a Newffie. Witty and good sense of humor. Enjoys writing articles for http://cattleon1000hills.com/?site=VDavidA Can be found on twitter.com/sarahbethwhite & has 2 blogs but prefers Blogger:http://cattleon1000hills.blogspot.com