Jan 16 - Isaiah 45:23-24

Before me every knee will bow;

by me every tongue will swear.

They will say of me,

“In the Lord alone are

righteousness and strength.”

Isaiah 45:23-24

I’m a guy.

I want to be strong.

That’s the American way. We’re an old cowboy culture. We’re supposed to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Men aren’t supposed to cry.

And so … most men are weak (or at least weaker than we need to be).

As boys grow into men, we have the illusion of growing strength and capability. As grown men grow into old men, the truth is gradually revealed. Human strength is an illusion. It is here today and gone tomorrow. Sickness and death always have the final word on this dusty planet. And any whisper of strength is only in comparison to other finite creatures.

Isaiah says, “In the Lord alone [is] righteousness.” Our being good is only an illusion too. We all sin and fall short. (But that’s the story for another day.)

Toward today’s point, Isaiah says, “In the Lord alone [is] strength.” And here’s where men sometimes struggle with faith. We want to be strong and sufficient, in and of ourselves. But the grass eventually withers. Our true strength – indeed, the only strength there really is – is to place our lives in God’s hands. Then, he can be our strength. And this strength never fades.

In fact, this strength has out-lived every earthly king.

In Christ’s Love,

a strong man from the circus

(but only because of God)