How to Receive Strength for the Hard Things in Life
My wife and I will both tell you that marriage was one of the toughest things either of us has ever done. We have a great marriage—great but never easy. That is not the case for everyone. There will be specific areas in life that you find more difficult than others. It may be your marriage, your finances, your health, your children, your ministry, or a combination of several things; but we all are called to do hard things in life. Know this: you will have to live by faith.
Where exactly does the strength to do hard things come from? It comes by faith, and faith comes from hearing God’s word. You may know that, but do you know how to do it? “Hearing by faith,” to borrow Paul’s phrase from Galatians 3, proves much less obvious than you might imagine. I believe it’s key to gaining the strength to do hard things.
A Personal Example
I can list a few biblical phrases that God used to transform my outlook during our season of marriage renewal. Each phrase carried great power, and it was as if God was speaking directly to me. The first was this: God gives grace to the humble—and related to this, God resists the proud. You find some version of these phrases in both James 4 and 1 Peter 5.
There is great power in God’s Word. It opens blind eyes, and it provides strength to change course. For me, I began to get on my face and repent, to humble myself, and to simply ask God to forgive me. The idea that God fought against me because of my pride scared me and awakened me to see the real culprit. I stopped blaming my wife and began to look inward. Anyone who has done marital counseling will tell you that getting individuals to stop trying to change their spouse and to look at themselves is the toughest part. God used His Word in my life to bring this life-altering reversal.
I asked God to open my blind eyes and give me a different view of my wife. I asked Him to teach me about marriage. And then I asked, now in a new spirit, for God to save our marriage. I asked a lot—that’s what you do when God humbles you.
God Changed the Spirit of Our Marriage
So how do I get the strength to do hard things? This phrase empowered me: “God gives grace to the humble.” The more that I turned from defending myself and just admitting that I needed help, the more I was encouraged that God would help me and help us. And He did. I can’t explain it other than it was the mercy of God. Within 30 days, after five years of pain and discouragement, God changed the spirit of our marriage. That was over 30 years ago, and we continue to experience God’s blessing daily.
This was not the only phrase from God’s Word that provided power in that season, or in many other situations since then. For me, it has often been a phrase literally right from Scripture that brings me power. Somehow, it just sticks in me, fueling a new and powerful perspective. Sometimes, this phrase has been my own words summarizing something God has shown me in His Word, but the heart of it still expresses biblical truth.
Ask God to open your ears to hear His Word by faith that the power to do hard things might be yours. However it comes, look for God to strengthen you by His word to do hard things.