Strength for today
Having had the privilege of spending over 40 years living out my call to ministry in the heart of Lansdale at St. John’s United Church of Christ, the faithful folks I serve know me well, and they know what I like. Because of my love of bees, numerous bee-related items have been directed my way, including socks, mugs and handmade pillows and blankets with bees on them, jars of honey, and a variety of books. Included with a recent gift was this fascinating bit of information about bumblebees: they are not designed to fly. Their bodies are far too heavy for their relatively small wings — wings that should not be able to keep them in the air. Yet, bumblebees do fly, seemingly oblivious to their structural limitations. Because they have not been informed that they cannot fly, they do. Obviously, bumblebees know their strength!
Do you know your strength — the strength you have access to having been created in God’s image, having been loved by the One who died so that we might experience life in all its fullness? While the strength we have access to may not be the kind the world reveres, it is the kind of strength that matters most, especially during times such as these. Our God-given strength involves no muscle flexing or power flaunting, and certainly no embracing of the mentality that maintains “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” In Scripture we find these words: “In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15) We are also reminded that it is when we are at our weakest that God’s strength comes to life within us — if we will let it.
A verse of Scripture that is written on my heart, and to which I turn daily, comes from Isaiah 40, verse 31. It reminds us that “those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Note: strength comes as a result of waiting for the LORD. Some translations of Scripture read “those who hope in the LORD shall renew their strength” and still others “those who trust in the LORD,” but regardless of the word used, what is clear is that our strength is tied to our willingness to take God seriously, while also waiting for God to show us the way.
Of this I am certain: I am strongest when I choose to place my hand in God’s hand. A beloved Gospel hymn, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” written by Thomas Dorsey not long after the death of his wife and newborn child, beautifully captures the essence of the strength that is ours when we recognize we cannot navigate this journey called life alone. This hymn, often sung at memorial services and funerals, is about so much more than needing Jesus to take our hand as we near the end of our lives. When we sing “lead me home,” we are asking the Lord to lead us back to our center, to give us clarity, to enable us to find our way amid the overwhelmed-ness of it all.
When Jesus healed people, it was not uncommon for him to take them by the hand as he looked them in the eye and proceeded to make them whole. In these days of COVID-19, when taking others by the hand may not be a wise thing to do, how good it is to know that we can safely take Jesus’ hand, and in so doing, experience strength and healing like no other!