Some days start heavy. You open your eyes and remember the hospital visit, the job you lost, the work that has to be done anyway. On those mornings a big speech about victory does not help much. What helps is knowing that God promises strength for the day, this one, and not one more.
Moses said it best near the end of his life, when he blessed the tribes of Israel one by one. To the tribe of Asher he said that their shoes would be iron and brass, strong enough for rough ground, and then he added a line people have leaned on ever since:
Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
Deuteronomy 33:25 (KJV)
The promise is not that you will feel strong all week. It is that the strength given will fit the day you are in. Tomorrow's strength comes with tomorrow.
Be strong and of a good courage: who said it, and when
If you search for Bible verses on being strong and courageous, you land in the same few chapters. The words were said over and over to one nervous man, Joshua, and then handed down to a young king.
| Spoken by | Spoken to | What they were facing | Verse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moses | All Israel | Crossing into a land of walled cities without Moses | Deuteronomy 31:6 |
| Moses | Joshua, in front of everyone | Taking Moses' place as leader | Deuteronomy 31:7 to 8 |
| The Lord | Joshua | Dividing the land among the tribes | Joshua 1:6 |
| The Lord | Joshua | Keeping all of God's law | Joshua 1:7 |
| The Lord | Joshua | Fear of going anywhere alone | Joshua 1:9 |
| The people of Israel | Joshua | Leading a whole nation who promised to follow | Joshua 1:18 |
| David | Solomon his son | Building the house of the Lord | 1 Chronicles 28:20 |
Why say it so many times? Because Joshua needed to hear it. He had watched Moses lead for forty years. Now Moses was dead, a river in flood stood between Israel and the land, and Joshua was in charge. God did not tell him to feel brave. He gave him a reason to act brave anyway:
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
Every time the command appears, the reason is the same. The Lord goes with you. Courage in the Bible is not a feeling you work up. It is a choice you make because of who is beside you.
Strength for people who have run out
Isaiah wrote to people who felt God had stopped paying attention. They were saying that their way was hidden from the Lord. His answer is one of the best known promises in Scripture.
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isaiah 40:29 (KJV)
Notice who this is for: the faint and those with no might. It is not a reward for strong people. Isaiah even says that young men, the fittest people you know, will stumble. The ones who are renewed are those who wait on the Lord, which in the Bible means to hope in Him and keep looking to Him while nothing seems to change.
When strength looks like weakness
Paul and the thorn
Paul had something painful in his life that he called a thorn in the flesh. We are not told what it was. He begged the Lord three times to take it away. The answer was not the one he asked for:
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
Paul came to see that his weak places were where Christ's power rested on him. If you are worn down by something that has not gone away, this promise is for you. God's grace is enough for today, and His strength fits right into the cracks.
Philippians 4:13 in its setting
Paul wrote Philippians from prison. Just before this verse he says he had learned how to live with plenty and how to go hungry. Then he says:
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13 (KJV)
All things here means every circumstance, the full and the empty. It is a promise that Christ will hold you up through whatever comes, not a promise that you will win every contest. Read that way, it is even stronger, because it still works on the bad days.
Three people who found strength in the Lord
David at Ziklag. He came home to find his town burned and the families taken. His own men talked about stoning him. First Samuel says he encouraged himself in the LORD his God, and then he got up and went after them.
Nehemiah's crowd. When the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, Ezra read God's law to the people and they wept as they heard it. Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites told them to stop crying and go have a feast, because the joy of the LORD is your strength.
The writer of Psalm 73. Asaph admitted his body and heart were failing. He still said God was the strength of his heart and his portion for ever.
Strength, discipline and getting going again
Many people looking for motivation in the Bible want a push to keep going: to stay sober, finish school, keep a hard promise, or get out of bed. The promises of strength help with that, but they work differently from a pep talk. They point you away from your own willpower and toward God's help, and then they ask you to take the next step.
Hebrews admits that discipline does not feel good while it is happening. Afterward, it says, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. That is honest. Good habits hurt before they help.
And if you have fallen down, there is a promise of restoration too. David sang that the Lord restores the soul, and through the prophet Joel God promised to restore the years the locust had eaten. Weak days are not the end of the story.
- Wake up with one verseRead Deuteronomy 33:25 or Isaiah 40:29 before you look at your phone.
- Name today's hard thingTell God plainly what you have to face before night.
- Ask for today onlyDo not ask for a year of strength. Ask for enough for this day.
- Take the next stepDo the first small thing in front of you, trusting He goes with you.
- Thank Him tonightBefore sleep, notice where you were helped, even a little.
A prayer for strength today
Lord, I do not have much left. You promised that my strength would match my days. Give me enough for this one. You told Joshua You would go with him wherever he went. Go with me into this morning. Where I am weak, let Your grace be enough.
Read them one at a time
Book Two covers Numbers through Esther, including Deuteronomy, where Moses blesses each tribe, and Joshua, where God tells His new leader again and again to be strong. Every promise has a page of its own with the King James verse, who it was spoken to and a prayer to say out loud.