Ephesian 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
What you believe is important because it will determine everything in your life.
What you believe determines how you understand and interpret scripture. If you believe that everything in this life is dependent upon yourself, you will read scripture and “add things into it” without realising what you are doing.
For example, you will read Ephesians 6:10 and come away thinking – “I need to be strong”; “I need to do this and I need to do that”.
But what it says is not to be strong or powerful in your own strength, but to be strong in the strength and the power of the Lord. Allow Him to impart His strength, grace, wisdom, and anointing into the daily activities of life – which comes through your believing, your words, your prayers… not through your own efforts.
Whenever you say “I can manage this problem by myself”, God says “Okay, I’ll leave it to you to do it all on your own”. But when you wake up daily and declare before the Lord, “ I need your strength and your power my Lord and my God, help me today”, that moves the hand of God to move upon you and get involved in everything that you do – you are still applying effort, but one is in your own strength, the other is with God’s strength.
You see, when you think that you are strong and you have to be strong within yourself, subconsciously what you are building into your ‘belief system’ is “Everything is dependent upon me”. This does not lay down a foundation of faith, but independence and self-dependence. But when you seek God and invite Him into your daily walk, you are learning to rest in His strength and His power.
Resting in God’s strength and power is not going to self-pity or being defeated in your attitudes. Nor is it being lazy and thinking that favor comes by doing absolutely nothing and just waiting for God to do everything! For example, if you stop turning up to work and putting in a good performance you won't be rewarded by your boss and you will end up disappointed with your review. Resting in God’s strength and power is an inner attitude of faith, humility and dependence upon God rather than worrying, stressing and striving in your own strength. You sow, you plant but the Lord will bring the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:7)
Even though you are talented – you understand you need God. Even though you are highly educated – you know you need the Lord. Even though you are wealthy – you understand the source of all that success comes from your God.
Your need for God is not just in the things that you know you cannot do. It actually starts in the little things, the things you can do. And when you adopt this attitude in the little things – it will naturally flow over into the big things.
Jesus said: “He that is faithful in the least is faithful in much…”. (Luke 16:10)
Go to a place of humility and dependence on God in the little things, that will develop the faith in God to trust Him and His power over all the impossible things. Learn to rest in God’s strength and watch His power go to work in your life!