Mighty God

Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)—

‘The Lord your God is in the midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.’

When I was a child, my older sister and I would play different games which often ended up becoming some sort of competition: who could climb a tree the fastest or jump the farthest; sometimes arm-wrestling would be involved. I am pretty competitive by nature but no matter how hard I tried at these physical games, I would always end up losing. I wasn’t big enough and didn’t have the strength to beat her, so eventually I came to terms with the inevitability of losing.

In my life now, I'm not any more involved in competitions with my sister but there are many battles that I have faced and do face, and many things that I have wrestled with (to be clear, not physically!) And every time I have tried to go about these struggles in my own strength, it has not gone my way - I have either emerged the other side burned out, or I have admitted defeat and given up before the difficulty has even started.

In my own strength, I could not beat what was coming against me, but when I stopped and asked God for help, I found I was able to get through safely. God is mighty and he gives us his saving strength, to help us through those hard times, to equip us to endure the journey and persevere.

Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus showed us his mighty power through his acts of kindness, his miracles, through healing and restoring broken people - and, above all else, by saving us through the ultimate sacrifice that he made. This Christmas let's grasp the truth that we do not need to do anything in our own strength, but we can call on Jesus - Jesus, help me! -and he will wonderfully, graciously, mightily respond.

Prayer - Thank you Jesus for saving me by dying on the cross so that I can rise to new life with you. Please come and help me by your mighty power to overcome the difficulties I encounter on my journey.