Leading God's Way

Couple folks, Matt's gonna pass those around. Excellent. What we're looking at this morning is the practice of strengthen ourselves in the Lord. And what I've done there is just take a few passages that I think are helpful and clarifying that we'll be looking at as we walk through our text. As we begin, the question I want us to ask is, where do we turn to when we're in trouble? When we feel a challenge pressing in, where do we turn to? Oftentimes, we would turn into our own competence. And this is pretty much every Rocky movie ever made. Right? Rocky comes across a challenge, and what does he do? Well, he trains harder to find that next gear. Maybe it's our own comfort. Whatever our sinful or regular coping mechanism is. How do we find comfort in the middle of trouble? Sometimes we try to escape. We want to make sure it's within our own control. We want to flee trouble. We want to get away from it. And sometimes it's in our own complaining. Self-pity always seems so promising. Well, there's something that all those answers have in common, and it's what I can do. I can take it into my control. I can work out it with my own competence. I can find my own comfort. This morning, we're going to look at a different option than all of these, and it's how to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We're going to go through the whole story, but we're going to spend a considerable amount of time there. In chapter 30, verse 6, But David strengthened himself in the Lord. The, the handout I just gave you, for all those different passages, all have in common, and that's just a few sampling, a small sampling of all the passages, how we can find strength in the Lord. If you've been with us for a while, we're walking through 1 Samuel, and we've seen Saul as the king that people wanted. God gave them what they asked for in judgment. Saul continues to do his own thing, in his own way, in his own strength. And David is a man after God's own heart. He trusts God. He obeys God. And there's a clear contrast. We just left Saul, who when in trouble, prayed to God, and God didn't answer. And so he goes and does something way outside of bounds. He goes and tries to summon the dead. Here, David, he prays to God, and God answers. He's a man who has been seeking after God, he's been obedient to God, he's confessed sin as God has shown it, and we see how he was able to strengthen himself. If you go back to chapter 27, something we really just skipped last week, Chapter 27, when David recognizes that Saul is not going to try to keep killing him. He's going to continue this pursuit. David says to himself in chapter 27, verse 1, now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Okay, so that's where we find our story picking up in chapter 29. Chapter 27 is interesting because David is living underneath the household and protection of a Philistine. He's going out and doing battle, and he's actually, he's deceiving the Philistine. The Philistine, Akish, he thinks he's going out and killing his own people, but he's actually wiping out the Canaanites, as God promised him. Now, this is a confusing part of the narrative, but we just see David isn't free. He isn't allowed to be there in Israel, and even Judah. And so he has gone to be with the Philistines. Chapter 29 picks that up, and this is where it gets really complicated. The Philistines and Israel are gonna fight, and the Philistines realize, are we gonna have David on our side? The one who the little jingle is sung of. You know, Saul's killed his thousands, but David has 10,000 Philistines. And so he's sent home. And we're really going to pick up there in the context of David has been away fighting with the Philistines. He is now going to go back to Ziklag, where everything he owns and the people he loves are present. The truth, I hope we see today, is the one we've already sung. Jesus is strong and kind. That's just the truth. Jesus is strong and kind. And those two are very important to be together. Because someone who's strong and wicked, they're going to cause a lot of trouble. Someone who's weak and kind can't actually help. But Jesus is strong And he's kind. And he invites us to strengthen, find strength in him. The call this morning is seek strength from the Lord. The first point I want to look at, and if you're taking notes, number one, distress and disaster. distress in Disaster David is up north. He is Wanting to go fight and it's not clear what he would have done. He obviously wouldn't put his sword against Saul So we don't know what happened if he would have gone out the fight with the Philistines. I He has an interesting dialogue with Akish where he wants to make sure he's, what have I done? Why won't you let me fight? But regardless, God in his own wisdom and protection, I believe, is sending David away from this battle. And so chapter 30, David and his men, they come to Ziklag on the third day. It's, it's a long journey. These are warriors. They've traveled for three days. And if you can imagine, they've been away in battle for some time. But now they've gone back. They've been rejected. They're looking forward to a meal. They're looking forward to seeing their loved ones. They're looking forward to being home for a while on rest. But as they come, they see smoke in the distance. As they come, they would expect to see their children and their flocks in the outskirts of Ziklag, because they've had plenty of spoil over the years. But as they come, they see smoke. And as they get closer, they go over the last ridge, they see just a city burned black, nothing but ash left. No family, no children, no wives, no livestock, it's all gone. They're exhausted physically and now emotionally. What they were longing for to come back to, it's all been burned with fire. Verse 3. Their wives, their sons, their daughters taken captive. Verse 4, this is where the Bible's honesty about how people respond is so hopeful. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept. until they had no more strength to weep. Their souls, their hearts, all empty because everything they loved is gone. And David's two wives have been taken captive. There's, there's, there's great distress And we can understand this. You've come back, you're physically exhausted, and now all of a sudden everything you were emotionally would help you get over this physical exhaustion is gone, and there's despair. Now, David, we remember what he's gone through, is that he's run away from Saul who wants to kill him. He's now come home, hoping to be with his loved ones, and they're all gone, and then even the people that's with him in company, verse six. David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. Now, bitter and soul was used earlier where when David is gathering an army, the people who are bitter and soul come and gather to be part of David's army. We need to just kind of feel where David is. He has lost his loved ones and now he does have company, but that company's all eyeballing him, wanting to kill him. He's alone alone. He's desperately alone. He is in danger alone. This is a rock-bottom kind of moment. This is a fully squeezed in, he's lost everything. What should he do? A question to ask is, what would you do? There's two actual natural questions that somebody would ask in this moment. Is God really good? Where in the world could we possibly see the kindness of God in that He would allow this to happen to me? The second question is, is God really strong? Was He not able to protect our loved ones while we were going out and fighting His battles? Those are two questions that would be natural to ask. And let me just be very clear, those are the two questions that Satan wants you to ask. Has God said? Would a good God ever keep you from something good? Would a good God ever take away anything that was good? Maybe He's just not able. Maybe He's just not good. Those are natural questions to ask, unless you have known God like David has known God. Remember, He's fought the lion. and recognize God protected him and kept his life. David has fought against the giant and knew that God was going to give him battle. David has fought against Saul, the king of Israel, and God has protected him over and over and over again. As whatever hymns say, those who trust him wholly find him wholly true. David doesn't raise a question about God. Notice the contrast. David is alone. He's lost everything. He's in danger. But David strengthened himself, and the Lord is God. What a powerful testimony. In the midst of the difficulty, he is not going to turn away from God, the only one who can help him. He's going to turn to God. Here we see the second point. There's devastation and disaster, but here we see there's strength in the Lord. There's strength in the Lord. Now, now, we need to make sure we understand these words, these names. The word for Lord here is Yahweh. That's his covenant name. He's a covenant promising God. And he's promised David, I am with you. I am for you. I have plans for you. You will be on the throne. And David, at every step of the way, has seen how God has kept his promises. Secondly, his God. not a foreign, abstract idea. It's a personal relationship. Because he's made personal promises. Now, there is no psalm for this section. But I want us to look at Psalm 13. It's printed on the handout I gave you. It's on page 453 of the Pew Bible. I believe this is an example of what it looks like for strengthening yourself in The Lord. Psalm 13, it, it, it's giving us an opportunity. Now remember what the Psalms are. When, when God gives His law, that's God telling us what He, what He, who He is, and, and who we are, and what He expects of us. Psalms are God telling us, here's how you can talk back to me. Here's how you can respond in different circumstances. How long, O Lord, will you forget me? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemies be exalted over me? Now, this psalm's context is actually one where he's fighting against Saul, but you can see how these words could easily be on his lips here. His soul has been weeping till there is no more strength. His enemies have exalted over him. They've taken everything. Verse 3. Verses 1 and 2, let's just be honest, that, that's a complaint. God's not so worried about us actually giving honest words of concern and even complaint to Him. How long are you gonna be silent, Lord? We're actually invited to say that? Because that's how we feel sometimes, and God's okay with that as long as we don't stay there. There's a call to warning to make sure our request or our concerns are voiced, but then there's the request, consider and answer me. Don't let me be overcome by this. And then, really verse five and six, but I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. Strengthen ourselves in the Lord doesn't mean we don't pretend there's real problems. Strengthen ourselves in the Lord means we really face real problems. We take in the Lord, and then we find He is always steadfast in His love. We find we can always rejoice in His salvation. We find He will always be dealing bountifully with us. This is a model prayer for how to strengthen ourselves in God. Teach us how to speak. Teach us how to respond. Now notice the exact way in which David does strengthen himself. Verse 7. He asks for the priest to come. He wants to inquire of the Lord. Verse 8. Prayer is an essential aspect of how we actually find strength in the Lord. That is how we personally communicate with God. He asked God, shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them? Remember Saul doesn't get an answer when he's in trouble. David does. God answers. Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and shall surely rescue them. So David set out. Now, we might be tempted to think, wow, if I only had that much clarity from God every time I prayed, I would always be faithful. This is still walking by faith. Remember, he's got to now convince 600 men who want to kill him to follow him into a new battle. There's a walking by faith that's still very present here. There's still an overwhelming trust in the Lord and His promise and His command here. And we have as clear of commands in Scripture for how we're to respond to suffering. Do we have as clear of quick obedience as David? Notice a little background he gives that David pursued with 400 men because 200 were just too exhausted to fight. 400 men go with David, 200 men stay back. We see David has strengthened himself in the Lord. He's at least remembering that he can trust God. He's remembering God can give him commands. He is seeking to align himself with God. We'll come back to strengthen himself in the Lord. Verse 11 and 15 are a little interesting. They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and the egg. Now, I don't know about you, but when I'm at a trial, I tend to be really inward focused. When a trial sets in, we're typically so inward focused on self-preservation that we're not really thinking of others. But here, in this very interesting kind of side note, and a key to the whole story, we see David, our third point, he finds strength to be a good neighbor. He is not so self-consumed in self-pity that he cannot seek to be a good neighbor. There's strength to be a good neighbor. Before they understand who this guy is, they're giving him food. They're providing for him. As David inquires, who are you? I'm an Egyptian. I belong to the Amalekites who just raided a bunch of different cities. OK, this guy's now an enemy. And if you're angry that your wives and your children and your livestock were just taken, how would you quickly respond possibly? Well, the same way he did with Nabal. Strap on your sword. Or at this point, just get out your sword and cut his head off. No, they're kind to him. David actually asks, will you help us as we are providing for you? We see here David really being just a model of what Jesus taught in the Good Samaritan. Love your neighbor as yourself. It's pretty amazing that in the midst of this mission to go care for his family, in his kindness, he looks out to the other, cares for him, and God uses it to lead him to the band of Amalekites. So here we just see a simple strength to be a good neighbor. Next, strength to fight. Strength to fight. David only has 400 men. We don't know how big of a band the Amalekites are, but we do know that only 400 of them fled, so we assume there was a lot. David fought from morning to evening. No one died among the Israelites, as far as we can see. The Amalekites were wiped out. And verse 19 is very important. Look at how clear God makes it. Verse 19. After they recovered everything, nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoiler, anything that had been taken. David brought back all. God has given him full victory. God has given him full restoration. That's a powerful declaration in what God has done and how David has been faithful. But we, we see here there's a, there's a, there's a clear God has blessed him. And I, I also want to give us a warning here. God giving him everything back isn't God, the only way God is always faithful. Here God took away and God gave back. We can remember Job who said, bless me the Lord, who gives and takes away. Pause here because I want to make sure as we understand There's a prosperity gospel that says, if we're truly trusting God, he's going to give us all the things we want, and all the things of, of physical blessing. I don't think that's what this is meant to teach us. I think it's meant to teach us that God is powerful to do what he wants to do, and he made a promise, and he kept that promise. As we think about what we should be doing in our commitments and what kind of promises we have, here's five promises as we can think about the way we should trust God to do what He says He will do. The first one comes from Matthew 28. And it's a theme that runs throughout all of Scripture. The promise God says is this. You ready? I am with you. That's one of the promises you'll see run throughout the entirety of the Bible. It's one of those precious promises you can hang on to, and memorize, and meditate upon, and always know is true. God says, I'm with you. You see, David looked all alone, didn't he? He looked like he was difficultly alone. Even, even dangerously alone. But God was with him. God promises He will always be with us. And if He is with us, we have the greatest, most powerful being, the Creator God, caring for us. The second thing we can see that's promised, in a trial specifically, from James 1, that if you ask, God will give you wisdom. And that's really the inquiry, right? Count it all joy when you face various trials, when you're getting pressed in, when you have a challenge. The promise is that God will say, here's wisdom. Here's truths to guide you in boundaries. Here's truths that guide you in, in direction. Here's, here's a way to continue to maneuver through this difficulty while still being faithful. God promises I'm with you. Secondly, God promises I will give you wisdom. Third, Romans 12 teaches us that God will be the final perfect judge. He will have vengeance. We don't have to take it in our own hands. God says, I will be the final judge, and vengeance belongs to me, and he will judge justly and rightly and fully. Fourth, from Philippians 4, from the passage we read earlier, Dan read to us earlier, God says, I will give you strength. He says that in numerous places. We can see that all over the page I handed out. I will give you strength. I will be your strength. I will, will mend you up. I will comfort you. I will give you strength to persevere. And then finally from 2 Corinthians 12, my grace is sufficient. Those are just five things God promises. He doesn't promise we'll always get everything back we lose. He doesn't always promise that justice will happen the way we expect it to happen here in this world. But God promises, I'll be with you. I'll give you wisdom. I will be the perfect judge. I will give you strength. I will give you grace that is sufficient. Cling to what God actually promises. The next thing we see is, next point in our sermon, next section of the text, beginning in verse 21, their strength to be generous. He's found strength in the Lord. He's found strength to fight. He's found strength to be a good neighbor. He has now found strength to be generous. Beginning in verse 21. Remember those 200 guys who stayed back because they were exhausted? Then David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Bezor. And they went out to meet David, to meet the people who were with him. When David came near to the people, he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that he had recovered, that we've recovered, except that each man keep his wife and children, and then they depart. And David said, you shall not do so, my brothers. with what the Lord has given us. It's a very important theological observation to make here, that David is not saying, this is mine, I won it, I took it, now I'm going to do with it whatever I want. Notice who won the battle. The Lord. The Lord gave him the win, the victory. The Lord gave him the spoil. And the men who stay back are just as ripe to the spoil as the men who go out and battle. And even more so, verses 26 and 31, they show that he gave the spoil to all of Judah. It goes everywhere. He's a generous king. But the key there is he recognizes it's the Lord who gave him. You see, David here is practicing stewardship. It's not ownership. I want it. It's mine. I'm going to use it however I want to. No, it's, it's stewardship. The Lord has given us this. We will be generous. It's interesting. We think about how open-handed or closed-handed we are with our things. The posture of our hands reveal the posture of the heart. Open hands, soft heart towards God. Closed hands, hard heart. Or are we stewards or owners? And here I believe David is modeling here good stewardship in his generosity. To summarize, David has been brought here. And again, context is very important. He's going to become king very soon. The battle of the Philistines and Israel, that's going to end Saul's life. This is David's last test. And, and, and let's be very clear. This is David's last test, and God has been found true. It's important. David is tested, and God is found true. This is the last test before he takes the throne. He's been left alone. He's been left devastated. He's been left without his loved ones. And God said, I will do this. And he did it. Now let's meditate on verse six. How do we strengthen ourselves in the Lord? How can we pursue strength like David in this passage? I've got four application points to answer that question. First, to find strength in the Lord requires first that we realize we have a power problem. We have a power problem. When faced with our own difficulty, if all we do is live within our own wisdom and live within our own strength, we're not going to honor God. We're going to be left very limited. Now I want to make a point here that's somewhat of a side point. God's made us in His image. God has made human beings with amazing capabilities. And the concern is we oftentimes aren't living up to the most basic, image-bearing possibilities. But here we have to recognize, just like David and his army, they're facing a trial and a problem that they can't handle. We do have enemies and we have problems that are way outside of our power, that are way outside of our control. Let me simply name two. The first is Satan. We are made a little lower than the angels. Satan is one of the most powerful angels. Satan is more powerful than us as a simple human being. But he who died on the cross, and he who now dwells in us, if we're believers, is greater than Satan. We are not left alone, as Luther's great mighty fortress we sung earlier. If left alone, he'll prevail. But, but Christ has come, the Lord of hosts, to give us the victory we can not have without his help. So the first thing is recognize we're weak on our own against Satan. And secondly, we're weaker, we're weak on our own against sin. This is where it gets kind of complicated. When our souls are crushed, we look inside. And, and what our heart's doing is confusing us with perverted lies and, and twisted truths. It poisons us. We need help from outside to tame the sinful heart that's inside. So as we look at the first step in strengthening ourselves, it really requires humility. It requires humility. And it's no accident, I believe, that 1 Peter 5, 6 begins with, humble yourselves. Second Corinthians 12, Paul confesses, to keep me from becoming conceited. There's a way in which we can think, I've got this. I need to isolate myself. Let me try to figure this out. But, but all along God's saying, no, I can help. Let me in. You need help from above. So the second step is actually realizing we don't have the power we need to fight all of our problems. Our most significant problems. Second, look to the promises of God. We already looked at some of those promises. I am with you. I'll give you strength. My grace is sufficient. But if we actually look at Deuteronomy 31, it's the top of the Old Testament side of your sheet. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, be strong and courageous. For you shall go with the people into the land where the Lord has sworn to your fathers to give them. You shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. Hear this word. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. The promise is, God is saying, I'm going to give you the land. Go. Be strong. I am with you. I am going before you. You are not alone. The Lord who is mighty in battle fights for you. Or flip the page over to the New Testament side. Philippians 4. I know how to be brought low. I know how to bound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. I can persevere. Interesting how having abundance can be a temptation, and having nothing can be a temptation. Both are temptations. That we need grace, to persevere through. 2 Corinthians 12, 9. Again, my grace is sufficient. There's a, there's something here I want you to encourage you with, and that, those little phrases, I am with you, my grace is sufficient, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. They're easy to memorize. That's low-hanging fruit for you when you're in a trial. That's quick and easy to load ammunition. Right? When you're in a trial, you need those simple declarations. Let's just take, my grace is sufficient for you. Every time you're tempted to go into despair, you just meditate upon that simple declaration. It protects you. Because if we're going to keep going into despair, we're going to have to deny His grace is sufficient. But as we keep meditating and keep putting that verse in front of us, that verse, it's those simple words. Is His grace sufficient or is it not? And we're tempted then to do something sinful in response, in our temptation. Know that His grace is efficient. I have to trust Him. I have to obey Him. Those simple little phrases, those simple little promises, that you're easy to load ammunition against despair. There's something else I want to warn us of here, and that this is not a let go and let God theology. This isn't just, ah, I'm in trouble, I'm gonna just let it all go and trust God and sit in my recliner until something happens. No, if you look at every possible promise of command to be strong, there's action involved. There's marching ahead in battle. There's thriving. There's striving. There's putting forth effort. There's doing good work. Giving up is a lack of faith. Stopping in your march. Now, is there a time and season to rest and reflect? Absolutely. But my concern is for those who would look at the Lord's Supper and say, oh, I've sinned too much this week. I can't go to the Lord's Supper. No, friend. The Lord's Supper next week is for you to confess sin, to bold march into God's presence and say, in the name of Jesus Christ, I confess that sin and I find forgiveness and participate. Obedience isn't something you avoid because of trials and frustration or sin. Obedience is the steps for by faith. If David doesn't go march with his army to battle, he's not a man of faith, and he has no strength, and he has no courage. My grace is sufficient for you. Third, pray to him. Pray. This is what David does. What should I do here? A fantastic hymn to meditate upon. What a friend we have in Jesus. When we're weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care, we should never be discouraged when we take it to the Lord in prayer. Some things we have not because we ask not. When we have a friend who cares. Believer this morning, are we seeking God's strength? Are we actually limiting ourselves when we have that friend who is strong and kind and listens and answers to his children? Are we living in the victory and the thriving of life and the wisdom he promises? We pray. living in God's will through prayer. Finally, our fourth application. See our weakness. See Him in His promises. Seek Him in prayer. Now, finally, see how God has promised us. Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel. Why? It's the power of God to save. David is a model for us in seeking the Lord when we're in a trial. But I actually want to say here, David is a model of who Christ is going to become. If we're actually going to apply ourselves to some of this story, we actually also want to think about how we're like those exhausted men who are laying back and staying because they can't go on any further. Somebody here probably feels like that. I'm exhausted and in need. I can't go any further. Well, what happens? David goes for them where they cannot go. Brothers and sisters, we have to recognize Jesus has gone for us where we will go unless we believe in him. Jesus came to live the life we have refused to live. He obeyed his father. We rejected his father. Jesus Christ came so that we could have the grace to fight the good fight, but that begins with first seeing how he has already won the victory. We are not trying to win our own victory. We're just trying to enjoy and celebrate by obedience the victory Christ has already won. We can turn to Colossians 2. Part of it's printed for your passage, but you can turn there. Colossians 2 makes it very clear. He died on the cross nailing our transgressions, the bill of debt of transgressions to the cross. That's like a whole long list of confessions. And here's the reality. When we face God, it's just obvious. That long list of things we've done is gonna be there. But when Christ died on the cross, He died so that we can actually be forgiven. He cancels the debt. Verse 15 is really interesting. He, that is Christ, that is God through Christ, disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to up in shame. by triumphing over them in Him. The Father has disarmed the rulers and authorities by triumphing over them in Christ. I believe he's talking about Satan and demons, those authorities. Now, what is Satan's powerful weapon against you, against us? His accusation. He's the accuser. You wanna know why his accusation is so powerful against you? Cause you did it. But Christ, when He takes your sin and is nailed to the cross in your place, He says you're no longer guilty of it. You no longer have to face any punishment for it. So now when Satan tries to accuse, those words fall flat because if we know Christ died for us, if we know He disarmed Him with that accusation, We can trust Christ's Word, which is more powerful than Satan's Word. He is our victory, because there's now no condemnation, there's no accusation, there's no separation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That's how you know Christ is strong enough to help you in any battle, because He's won the most difficult and most important one. If you're not a believer this morning, I have to tell you the bad news in that there is a battle you cannot win. You cannot control your sin enough to be good enough to please God. You cannot do enough good works to outweigh your bad works. But God sent His Son to be good in your place and to die for your sin in your place, so that if you believe in Him, You're forgiven. Your sin is removed from you as far as the east is from the west. He rose again to give you new life. Now you can fight with victory. But you have to believe that Jesus came to save you and give you a victory you could not secure. Believer. We don't have to wallow around in our weakness. We can look to Christ. What Colossians 3 is going to tell us to do after this grand declaration in chapter 2, look up to where He is seated so we can meditate upon the things that are honorable and true and good and right. Look up to where Christ is seated victoriously. Seated at the right hand of the Father. You sit down when you're done with the job. It's done. Now that he's seated in victory, he sent his Holy Spirit so that we can live out that victory. He's gonna come back to finish the victory by putting all sin away. And then Colossians, Paul's in Colossians gonna tell us, we can kill sin. Because if you don't kill sin, it's gonna kill you. We can put sin to death, we can put it away. What promises, what strength, In the midst of our despair over not having the kind of self-control we wish we had, in the midst of our despair not having the kind of peace and joy we wish we had, we can actually look to Christ and say, He's strong enough to help us. But we have to be humble enough to look up for the help. It's interesting, we think about the spoil Christ gives us. What is the spoil that Christ gives us? I believe first and foremost, we can actually think of this as the fruit of the Spirit. What's the spoil of Christ that He gives to all of His children? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Exhausted because you're lacking self-control? Look to Christ who can strengthen you. Frustrated because of how impatient and not gentle you are with your loved ones? Look to Christ who can give you strength. Frustrated because you don't have that love and joy and peace that you long for. Look to Christ who can give you strength. We don't have to live in defeat. Let me read this last passage from Colossians 3 as our closing statement. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is. seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind to the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you, Lord, that you have not left us alone in our weakness, in our sin, in our own defeat. But Christ has come to become like us in every way except for sin. He has come to die in our place, taking on the consequences of our sin. He has come to bring power so that we can know you. We can live after you. We can serve you. We can find joy in you. Forgive us for limiting ourselves to our own weaknesses. Give us the courage we need to find strength in you. Give us the courage we need to strengthen one another. Help us, Lord, to walk mighty in this battle, finding strength in Christ. In his name we pray, amen.