Man of StrengthSample

BE THE MAN WHO RECOGNIZES STRENGTH’S VALUE

Excessive worry prevents you from enjoying life. “But,” you may say, “being pessimistic means I’m never disappointed.” Fair enough. But even if you’re wrong and good things come, you immediately assume this good fortune won’t last. Instead of enhancing life, worry makes it much smaller. It taps into today’s strength and bleeds it dry. And when you throw what little strength you have left to the wind, worry will come back again tomorrow. But who wants a small life? Who wants their life to shrink like cooked bacon? Who looks at their deficiencies and thinks, I want even less? If you’re one of the millions who shout, “No one!” there is good news. You don’t have to settle for a life with fewer opportunities and minimal satisfaction. You don’t have to settle for “runt-of-the-litter” living. If God supplies abundantly, stop behaving like you live in spiritual poverty. If He loves you, stop acting like you’re rejected. If He lives, stop assuming there’s no hope. It’s easy to tell the difference between a well-nurtured garden and an abandoned one. If your life is a garden, don’t set up an umbrella when God sends the rain. Strength is easy to lose, but it can also be replenished. You can make strength-depleting choices, but don’t forget those that bring restoration. God can provide more than you started with.

What might cause you to release your grip on strength? Why can that sometimes seem like a good option? Why is that a lie?