You are My Strength

By: Becky Brown

I have read all the books of the New Testament several times over. So, as I was deciding what book of the Bible I was going to start reading for my daily devotions, I ventured to the front half of the Bible. I realized I have never read the Psalms all the way through. I gave it some thought and decided to make that my goal. There are some pretty amazing scriptures in Psalms and I am only in chapter 18.

As I was reading chapter 18 the first verses popped out. Psalm 18 starts out with "I love You, Lord; You are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and He saved me from my enemies". (verses 1-3)

Recently I had a really good week. I was into praising God and was thankful for all He had been doing lately. Well, as you know when we are into praising God the devil isn't really happy with us. I believe the devil will do anything to destroy our peace and happiness in the Lord. That same weekend on Saturday I had gotten up in what I thought was a really good mood, but as the morning went on, I became depressed and sad over some events that had taken place. Before long I found myself crying and upset. I didn't know why I was feeling the way I was and I just couldn't help myself. I lashed out at my husband. The poor guy had done nothing wrong but get up out of bed. I didn't like myself very much and wasn't happy with the way I was feeling. I knew if I didn't do something quick the mood would set in for the day, and I didn't want to ruin a perfectly good day. I tried to change my thoughts and just think good thoughts, but as my husband would try to comfort me the tears came back. I knew in my heart I needed strength to get through this difficult time.

I went into the bathroom, closed the door, and I prayed. I told God what was going on, I asked for His strength to get me through this, and I even went on to ask if He could send a bit of good news. I walked through the door knowing I did what I needed to do. Before long, I had gained strength, and I found protection in the Lord. We had errands to do, so off we went to do the errands. I found myself in a much better mood and able to handle things once again. Later that day I received a phone call and guess what? I received some good news. What an awesome God?

When I am crushed like fine stone, God is my rock. When the walls seem to come closing in, He steps in and becomes my fortress, and when I feel lost He comes in to save me. When I call upon the name of the Lord, He shields me from the devil's tricks and lies. Who else is worthy of my praise?

I have found in this life you cannot go it alone. You cannot rely on your own strength to get you through tough days. You cannot protect yourself from this world. You can call friends who may help, you may drink and drown your troubles, or take drugs to relieve the pain and agony, but these are only temporary fixes. You need a permanent fix. That permanent fix is calling on the Lord. We have to take the first step and call out to Him, He just won't do it without our consent. We have to tell Him we need His protection, we want Him to be our shield, and we have to let Him know we want Him to save us. After we pray it, our next step is to believe He will do those things we ask, we can't take it back. Once we have called upon the name of the Lord He will give us strength, He will be our Rock, our Fortress and our Savior. I knew I had done nothing by myself to get me through, I knew the Lord had done it for me, so the next thing to do was to praise God for His power, strength, and His love.

Are you facing some difficult days? Call upon the name of the Lord. He might not make troubles go away, thoughts might linger, but He will give us His strength to face these days, He has the power to save us from evil, and He is our place of safety. Remember to take time to praise Him for He alone is worthy of our praise.

"He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me". Psalm 18:19

"You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. In Your strength, I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall". Psalm 18: 28-29

You are My Strength