Strong in the Lord

Despite the popular notion today that it is more spiritual to remain weak, struggling, and vulnerable, God desires to build us into valiant, valorous, fortified warriors who fear none but Him alone and are vulnerable to none but Him alone. The chief word that characterizes the Proverbs 31 woman is strength. And all throughout the New Testament, we are constantly exhorted to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!

Christ has already conquered the enemy of our souls. The only thing Satan can do is put on a magic show, using smoke and mirrors to trick us into taking him seriously and letting him have his way in our lives. But if we stand firm in the power that Christ has given us, “no weapon formed against us can prosper” (see Isaiah 54:17).

How do we gain that kind of unshakable confidence? We must become fortified Christians! A fortified Christian woman has an impenetrable barrier between her and the enemy. She has put on the full armor of God and is able to resist the devil, no matter what fiery dart he tries to throw at her.

The book of Nehemiah paints a vivid illustration of the fortification process. At the beginning of the story, Nehemiah is in mourning because the wall around the city of Jerusalem has been destroyed, leaving the children of Israel utterly defenseless against enemy attacks. “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire” (Nehemiah 1:3).

What a perfect description of our spiritual lives! Most of us live in a state of distress, hounded on all sides by the enemy. And with only our defeated walls around us, we are defenseless against Satan’s attacks. We go around nursing anger toward God for allowing bad things to happen to us, all the while forgetting that we have an enemy who is hell-bent on destroying us. And he will succeed as long as we leave our battle weapons untouched on the ground and the walls around our cities in shambles.

But the good news is that God is ready and willing to help us build walls of fortification around our lives and to give us every weapon needed to not just defend ourselves against Satan’s schemes, but to storm the very gates of hell…and win! In Hebrews, Paul describes the heroism of God’s faithful servants throughout the ages. “Who through faith subdued Kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (Hebrews 11:33-34).

Notice that all of these men and women “out of weakness were made strong.” They went from being weak and frail to being so strong in God’s power that they could stop the mouths of lions and put armies to flight. It is that very same strength that God desires to work in each one of us. You may feel weak, frail, and vulnerable, but He is ready to make you stronger than you ever thought possible. Remember the valiance of David? He was only a lowly shepherd boy - the very least of all his brothers. But God gave him such mighty valor that he killed loins and bears with his bear hands, slew a fierce giant with only a slingshot, and destroyed the most powerful armies in the world. What God did for David, He wants to do for me and you!
- Leslie Ludy