October 23, 2023
I wish that I had started my “Living Simply with Lower Energy” series with an emphasis on God’s strength. Perhaps assumptions were made on my part that others would share my viewpoint of relying upon God. But now I pause and refocus this series on the true Source of my daily strength—the Lord. Without Him, I can do nothing!
God is the starting point of my strength and energy, and without Him, I truly cannot accomplish anything. Even those who deny God and His personal dealings in their lives are living on the strength and energy that God has kindly given to them. God not only created us but He lovingly sustains us. God gives my body the health to function, and He provides the means to purchase and consume nutrients for my body.
When I start from the worldview that God has created me and sustains me, I can see clearly that my purpose for living and the ability to live comes from Him. God gives meaning to my life, and because I am His child, I have a purpose to live!
Not only do I have a purpose for living, but God supplies me with everything needed to live a godly life. God has not left me here on planet earth, expecting me to living a godly life without the resources and strength to accomplish His will.
Today I would like to share three meaningful passages of scripture that have strengthened my heart spiritually and also given me hope for physical strength. I am so quick to forget these passages of scripture, and every time one comes to my mind or I come across it in my own Bible time or personal reading, I always have spiritual “duh” moments of “Why didn’t I remember this verse?”
May I encourage you not to skip over the verses? My words cannot ultimately encourage you, but God’s Word can seep deeply into your soul, invigorating the innermost recesses of your being.
Some of the most exhausting days of my life were during college. I remember one of my teachers saying, “Just wait, life will only get harder and busier after college.” A rather depressing statement to make to a class full of exhausted college girls, right?
I was not particularly encouraged by that statement, and although I have found her statement to be somewhat true, the college days are brutal. Nothing quite compares with the intensity of college, and even adult life offers more personal choice and freedom than the collegiate days.
Isaiah 40:28-31 became a precious passage to me in those tough college days, and these verses often gave me the comfort and inner strength to keep going when I felt like quitting.
28. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.
29. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall munt up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
God, the Creator of all, never grows weary or tired. He is limitless—limitless in His time, understanding, and strength. God knows when we are weak and faint, and He delights in giving the weak ones His strength.
Even young people, with their seemingly boundless energy, grow tired at some point. Yet no matter our age or abilities, if we patiently wait upon God and trust Him for strength, He sends us soaring into the heavens like an eagle gliding on weightless air.
To me, this passage in Isaiah is as if God is kindly waiting, waiting until we run out of strength like a tired toddler weary of running around the yard finally collapses in a heap. The sooner I come to the end of myself, the sooner God can step in and show Himself mighty.
II Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.
God impressed this verse into my mind and heart during my second pregnancy. I felt so overwhelmed and inadequate to take care of my first child and then welcome another one into the world. Through this verse, God showed me that I am not enough, and that is okay. God is enough, and with Him it will all be okay!
Our world says, “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. YOU can do it!” Well, I’m here to say that I can’t do it, not by myself at least. I need God, and without Him, I am nothing.
James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
God gives grace to the humble. When I am proud, stubborn, and insistent on going my way, I live a graceless life. But when I yield to God, humbly trusting Him for strength, He gives grace, in fact He gives MORE grace!
When I fuss and whine about being tired and wish I had the energy of Athletic Alice, God isn’t going to listen to me. In fact, He is going to resist me! Yikes. I do not want God resisting me, so the sooner my attitude gets adjusted the better.
God hears my humble, desperate prayer when I can hardly sweep the floor because of exhaustion. God hears my cry when I am weary, so very weary, of dealing with the children’s behavior and don’t feel like correcting AGAIN. God hears my plea for strength to bathe that fidgety, ornery child one more time when my body aches with fatigue.
For those of us with less energy, perhaps God is posturing us to live dependently on Him in a way that energetic people might not comprehend. The daily struggle to push through the next task and then the next task drives us to humble, dependent prayer asking God for the strength to make it through each day and sometimes each moment. On days when I have leaned so hard into God’s grace moment by moment, I reach the end of the day and realize that God saw me through another whole day!
-Ashley
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Good afternoon Ashley
Thank you for another wonderful commentary ❤ about living simply and leaning on the LORD! I'm so amazed at how you can explain how things work in you and your families lives! I'm still learning how important it is to have GOD in my life! I pray 🙏 often out loud and in my head! I know he hears us no matter what is going on in his life! We are his children, I feel him in my life everyday! Thank you so much for just being YOU!
Mary P