Flexing Faith Muscles

Hello, my name is Xochitl Dixon. Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Today, I share a memory that changed my perspective on wading in Flexing Faith Muscles. During a trip to the zoo, I stopped to rest near the sloth exhibit.

The creature hung upside down. He seemed content being completely still. I sighed. Because of my health issues, I struggled with stillness and desperately wanted to move forward, to do something, anything. Resenting my limitations, I longed to stop feeling so weak.

But while staring at the sloth, I observed how he stretched one arm, gripped a nearby branch, and stopped again. Being still required strength. If I wanted to be content with moving slowly or being as still as the sloth, I needed more than incredible muscle power. To trust God with every dragging moment of my life, I needed supernatural power. In Psalm 46, the writer proclaims that God doesn't just give us strength, He is our strength. No matter what's going on around us, the Lord Almighty is with us. The psalmist repeats this truth with conviction.

Like the sloth, our day-to-day adventures often require slow steps and extended periods of seemingly impossible stillness. When we rely on God's unchanging character, we can depend on His strength no matter what plan and pace He determines is right for us. Though we may continue to battle afflictions or struggle with waiting, God remains faithfully present. Even when we don't feel strong, He'll help us flex our faith muscles. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar in foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her. She will not fall.

God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar. Kingdoms fall.

He lifts His voice. The earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations He has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.

He burns the shields with fire. He says, Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Let's pray. God Almighty, thank You for giving us opportunities to flex our faith muscles by trusting You to be our strength. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.