The passage in Mark 12:30 reminds us to, ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ Sure, we love God with all our heart, and our soul, and our mind. We fiercely protect and guard these areas as we navigate the daily traffic that commutes in and out of these gateways, understanding the enemy can and will disable our spiritual walk and leave us with a theological limp if we’re not careful. But what about our strength? Are we protecting that? Are we fiercely standing our ground on the battlefield in all the strength God has given to us? Or have we willingly handed over the precious elixir that helps us to endure the unendurable?    

I have friends who like to run long distances, and they know it’s crucial to build up their strength so they can endure the unendurable moments within a race. I, on the other hand, don’t run. Well…that’s not true. I ran for many years from God and the church until I found Jesus’ blood trail of redemption that He left behind at the cross. But here’s the kicker, not only did the hunter, Satan, continue to fire his arrows at me, even though I had come back to God and the church, those poisonous darts sticking into me kept me running INSIDE the church. That crafty, calculating, cretin knew the blood trail I was leaving behind me was sapping all of my strength, so I was far less dangerous to him and his dark kingdom, even though I was back in the body of Christ, the church.

Did you know that you are far less dangerous to your enemy when you have no strength left to fight him? One of the hunting strategies of Satan is to wound you with so many hurts from people who claim to be loving Christian brothers and sisters, that you work harder to gain their approval and God’s approval. All that poison our enemy fires going around in the Body will impact the church and weaken it because we cannot endure battles and stand strong in unendurable times if the hunter’s arrows have caused wounds that are specifically designed to steal, kill and destroy our strength. 

Paul reminds believers in Colossians 1:11-12, ‘we pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul – not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.’ God’s strength is the Powerade that gives us the clout, toughness, courage, energy, nerve, muscle and backbone to fight. 

I talk a lot about Elk’s, but did you know that it is a spiritual animal known for its strength and stamina and can run for many miles even when it has been wounded? Nevertheless, wounds caused by the hunter can and will eventually sap the strength from this majestic creature, leaving it vulnerable and weak until it blacks out from the pain of an injury, winding up with its head mounted on the hunter’s trophy wall. 

Don’t let this happen to you! Don’t let that slippery serpent rob you of your strength so you are unable to endure the unendurable. When we, as a church, understand we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9) we will stop letting the hunter, Satan, get away with shooting his poisonous arrows into the Body of Christ that weaken the church as a whole, making us run away from God instead of to Him. 

The eagle, like the elk, is another animal that is known for its strength. This symbol of power, freedom and victory is the bird to help believers see that if we trust in God if we lean on His wisdom, He will help us to regain our strength. 

Here, I’ll let you read Isaiah 40:28-31 yourself…

‘Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The Eternal, the Everlasting God, the Creator of the whole world, never gets tired or weary. His wisdom is beyond understanding. God strengthens the weary and gives vitality to those worn down by age and care. Young people will get tired; strapping young men will stumble and fall. But those who trust in the Eternal One will regain their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run – never winded, never weary. They will walk -never tires, never faint.’  

Let this verse sink into those wounds of yours like a healing balm, helping you to build your strength back up so you can endure the unendurable.

Wendy xo 

Let’s start a conversation…

When have you let the hunter, Satan, rob you of your strength and how did you regain it back so you could endure the unendurable? What verses in the Bible helped you to fight smarter for your strength rather than harder?  I pray that your strength will be renewed in this testing season.