YOU MAY BE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK
Proverbs 24:10 NKJV
10 If you faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.
I believe that there are many people who underestimate their strength. These are the folks who talk about how weak they feel, but they still keep going. The people who lament that they are not stronger, but they have not given up. These are the ones who may cry and complain, but they are not throwing in the towel. Throwing in the towel is a colloquial phrase taken from boxing. When a fighter is losing badly, his managers will throw a towel in the ring, signifying that they are ending the fight. They are quitting.
Our proverb for today says, "that if you faint in the day of adversity." To faint means to fall out. To no longer keep trying. At first glance, it's hard to tell if someone has died or just fainted. Fainting means that someone is not taking any action. Fainting can mean to forsake, abandon, or let drop. If someone fainted, they are not doing anything.
So, if you abandon a course of action during times of challenge and adversity, your strength is small. But not quitting is a sign that you have some strength, and it's not small. What would change in us if we determined that instead of focusing on what we are not doing, we focus on what we are doing? If we are still in the battle. Still moving with a course of action, still trying. What if, instead of lamenting how weak we are, we begin to encourage ourselves by talking about how strong we are?
These are good questions. I believe we sell ourselves short much more than we encourage ourselves. But what if we entertained the idea that we are stronger than we think? What if we told ourselves that we are strong?
I recently read a quote from a man who is a believer, who ran his last double Ironman completion when he was 59 years young. A double Ironman Triathlon is when you complete an Ironman Triathlon, and then 24 hours later, you complete another. When asked how he did it, he explained that he learned to talk to himself instead of listening to himself. He said if he listened to himself, he would hear all the reasons he should quit the race, that he is too old, too tired, and too sore. But if he talks to himself, he can feed himself encouragement. He also memorized and quoted Scripture as a way to fuel himself with good things. That is such a good, good principle. Talk to yourself instead of listening to yourself. I wish I had said that. But trust me, you will hear this again.
So, if we are talking to ourselves, let's begin to tell ourselves that we are strong and we are not going to give up. That we can do this. That the Lord is helping us. That the Holy Spirit in us is a spirit of power, love and sound mind. We have help from the stronger One, the greater One.
So you haven't given up? Then you have not fainted, and your strength is not small. You are stronger than you think!