More than physical strength

It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action. 

(Honore de Balzac)

Strength comes in many forms, doesn't it? Some develop strength because they spend hour after hour 'working out' - honing the strength within their muscles. I am not much of a 'work out' kind of gal, as is probably quite evident by the extra inches I carry here and there. I do have some strength still left in these muscles of mine, as I am still able to wield open that jar of pickles with a tight grip and a little 'elbow-grease'! I know a good many who have a strength that comes from down deep inside of them, allowing them to face some pretty fearful things day after day, like the nurses who have taken care of hundreds and hundreds of COVID-19 patients, enduring the long hours and grueling work of being 'suited up' in all that protective gear. They may go home at nights absolutely exhausted, faces swollen and broken down from the hours and hours of wearing N-95 masks, bodies fatigued by the hours of standing at those bedsides, monitoring every breath, heartbeat, and flicker of the eye. Yet they exhibit the strength to return the next day to do it all over again. Where does this type of 'inner strength' come from? I think the 'resolve' to do something that is onerous comes from having made a choice to serve others - despite the cost. There are times in life when we need to focus a little bit more on the 'inner resolve' than the physical endurance - the physical isn't going to cut it because what we face will require a 'stamina' that isn't humanly possible.

Are you strong because you belong to Christ? Does His love comfort you? Do you have joy by being as one in sharing the Holy Spirit? Do you have loving-kindness and pity for each other? Then give me true joy by thinking the same thoughts. Keep having the same love. Be as one in thoughts and actions. (Philippians 2:1-2)

We belong to Christ, making a strength that is not our own available to us. That strength is sometimes referred to as 'inner strength' or 'supernatural strength'. Not to get all mystical here, but there is something that seems to inhabit us with inner 'resolve' that we clearly know is not there by our own doing. We have spent our reserve and somehow there is more that seems to come from within. This isn't our reserve - it is the fresh infilling of the strength of Christ within! There is nothing more powerful than to be operating in this realm. We are strong because we belong to Christ, but do we use that strength in ways that bring him honor? We are comforted when things seem too hard to handle, but does that comfort move us into action once again? The inner 'resolve' that Christ gives to us isn't just to 'build us up' so we are feeling 'good' again. It is given to us so we will turn again to the task at hand and continue on. 

As a child of God, we are asked to do some pretty tough things - like loving those who may not seem all that lovely at times. I know there are a lot of people who just get on our 'wrong side' in life - it is a fact of life that we won't always agree. As a matter of fact, there are some pretty awesome people I can think of right now who I don't agree with for one reason or another, but that doesn't keep me from loving them. As we examine our passage today, we are given clear instruction to 'think the same thoughts, have the same love, and be as one in thoughts and actions'. That is a pretty tall order for us humans, isn't it? To think the same thoughts is maybe the hardest of all. We all have opinions and truth be told, not all of our opinions are really 'right' or definitely 'wrong'. That is why they are called opinions! An opinion is a belief or thought that rests on ground INSUFFICIENT to produce complete certainty. So, why do we differ over things that are merely opinion?

If we want to be as one in thoughts and actions, we need to allow our 'oneness' to be built upon the things in our lives that are not built upon truth, not opinion. If we commit first to be undivided in our beliefs, with those beliefs being based upon the truths proclaimed in God's Word, then perhaps we will find ourselves a little less focused on the 'opinion' that would otherwise divide us. We would get a little closer to being ONE in thoughts and actions - developing an inner resolve and strength that brings us back time and time again to thinking and doing the right things, in the right way, for the right reasons, in the right timing. Just sayin!

Take this most seriously

The power of two - do we really understand or appreciate it? There is something most powerful that happens when two are standing together! When there are two, one recognizes where it is that one or the other is a point when that one can no longer stand alone. At that point, we reach out to others. In a society that values the strength and ability of an individual, this idea of 'partnering together' is seldom overlooked for the value it presents. In recent years, we have seen education begin to teach the concept of "teamwork" by having students do "team projects" to obtain their grade rather than individual reports. This is not taught so much for the benefit of developing the inter-relatedness of each other as much as the development of the "social skills" that allow people to work together for the good of the whole. In God's economy, there is a benefit in being rightly related - first to him, then to others that he strategically places in our lives. It is more than the social skills of teamwork - it is the strength of not standing alone.

"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there." (Matthew 18:18-20)

Get together on anything at all on earth - the promise is pretty "all-inclusive". Whenever two of us get together on anything at all on this earth, God is there. The idea is that God never wants us to walk alone - he knows we need the strength of others - the physical hand, arms, and presence of another. The strength of their hug, the warmth of their smile, or the intimate "knowing" of their silence all serve to give us the strength to endure the present battle and prepare for the future one. God values when two stand in agreement - determined toward the same goals, living the same values, pursuing the same excellence. In that union, he is glorified.

And make a prayer of it - now we come to the crux of the matter. It is in the prayerful expression of our united stand that God is present. God gives us the one we stand alongside, not just for the hugs and moral support, but as a prayer partner, a helper in prayer. One who will take the burden we bear and lift it to the throne room of God - what a valuable treasure we have in one such as this. It is an honor to lift the needs of another to God - it is his joy to answer the prayer of one so committed to the other. We stand as more than just "moral support" - being a sounding board or a place to "dump" our stress and worries. We stand as "prayer support" for each other - a person who will do battle on behalf of the other.

My Father in heaven goes into action - that says it all! God sees the two standing in agreement, lifting the needs of each other, and he goes into action - for both! What more can be said? God in action is better than any solution two heads could come up with - and the benefits of standing together outweigh just one being blessed - both receive the blessing! Two hearts joined in prayer is the key that puts God's power into action. The next time you are tempted to stand alone, don't. Remember the "power of two". God's heart is "softened" and his power is placed into action by the prayer of those who stand united. Just sayin!