Strength

My life today is often spent isolated on an airplane.  I sleep well on planes.  I seem to weather time zone shifts, longitude and latitude moves, and wildly different styles of food and cultural norms with little stress.  The world is a small place that I call home.  Having said this, I find that there is something increasingly tangible.  I often find myself walking alone.  Those I love, trust, and hold close to my heart are in my thoughts, yet they are physically a long ways away.  The separation means that I am not as strong as I otherwise would be when I am in community.  I do not like the weakness that follows.
 
If my observations are correct, many suffer from a lack of strength.  You see it played out in poor choices, anguished faces, and blank eyes.  It is as if their words are increasingly hallow, searching for meaning in the context of truth filled relationships.  I find myself longing to help.  I realize I bring little because of my void filled soul.
 
There is a solution with strength to the down hearted, weak, and vulnerable.  One person’s comment can be your words and mine.  “The Master, God, stays right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced.  Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this.”  (Isaiah 50.7)  We face life hand in hand with God.  We are Divinity’s partners.  We are in God’s family.
 
In the dawn of a new day, as I prepare to celebrate the beginning of a life union between two friends, I find myself wanting to give them the strength God offers.  I can remind them of the wonder, awe, and power that are theirs as they accept the offer.  Life will overwhelm, but we can face each moment in God’s strength.  Life will, at times, be difficult; God’s muscle is our own. 
 
Candidly, I am bone and soul tired.  If not for God I would, will not make it.  Yet I walk confidently knowing the Spirit is here – for you and for me.