Always Relying on God’s Strength

Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.  My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word. -Psalm 119:27, 28 (KJV) 

As you may have noticed, I try to have these daily devotional blogs posted first thing each morning.  The problem is that life and any number of unexpected situations can arise which hinder that taking place.  I mentioned yesterday how that I had been battling a terrible sore throat and head cold, which I am sad to say, has gotten worse.  I saw my doctor yesterday for a routine check-up and after doing a swab on the back of my throat found no infection.  He recommended that I continue taking over the counter cold medicine, drink fluids, and ride it out.  So, that’s what I am doing.  This morning I was up at 3:00 AM and felt so miserable that I could not go back to sleep.  Neither was I in any condition to work on my blog.  I was finally able to sleep from 5:00 to about 8:00 AM and that period of sleep proved to be beneficial. 

A friend suggested that I spend the day on the couch wrapped in a warm blanket and I have to say that sounded most inviting.  However, when I woke up at 8:00 I could not see myself spending the day on the couch.  I asked the Lord for His help and healing, and I then proceeded to splash my face with water, shave, dress in my sweat suit, and then head outside for my morning workout.  Through it all the words of the Psalmist kept coming to mind: “Strengthen thou me according to thy word.”  Following my workout I showered, had breakfast, and so far have had a fairly productive day.   

Someone may fuss at me over this and tell me that I should not have tried to work today, but rather should have stayed in and rested.  No doubt a strong case could be built for such a position.  However, I truly felt the Lord leading me to rise up and fight this head cold in a way that may not work for everyone, but is working for me.  For those who may be worried about me, you have my word; tonight I will be home and in bed early. 

God is faithful and He never lets us down.  By His strength we can rise up and go forward even in those times when we would not have thought that to be possible.  Let us look to the Lord always and rely upon His strength at all times.