Strong in the Lord: Lighten Our Load

by Marilynn Chadwick

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure... (Hebrews 6:19 NIV).

God’s strength helps keep our hope alive. Hope, in turn, makes us stronger—like an anchor for our soul. Perhaps you’re fighting today to hold on to your dream. The mountain of obstacles looks too big to overcome. It takes spiritual muscle to keep dreaming when circumstances look bleak. Strength is crucial to resist the aggressive intruders of discouragement and fear. I pray that you’ll find encouragement today as we continue our theme “Strong in the Lord.” 

Years ago, when I was walking through infertility, I experienced God’s strength in several practical ways—lessons that are with me even today. But one thing’s for sure. Waiting is hard work! One day, my husband David spoke words that helped me turn a corner. He looked at me and said quietly, “You know, we’ll never be happy with a baby unless we’re happy without one.” We were on vacation at the time. So, I went for a walk to do business with God. Two hours—and a very long walk on the beach later—I returned. I had surrendered my dream to God; “buried” my dream to have a baby in the sand. But I still held onto hope that God had a plan for us that was good.

I felt strangely empty and free at the same time. There was a new fire for change. I wanted to begin again. And this time, hold my dream for a baby with a looser grip. I took stock of where I was. What I had. What I lacked. Where I could grow.

In short, I began to “clean house.” This was part practical and part spiritual. I worked at redoing the fixer-upper house we had purchased a few years earlier. Paint, wallpaper, and yard work were doable. These, I could control.

I also took stock of my physical body; my temple. My health had suffered from all the infertility drugs and treatments. Plus, I was somewhat of a “junk food addict.” So, I zeroed in on my habits and began to eat organic and healthy, not easy or even embraced by most people forty years ago. I also found ways to discipline myself through exercise.

I discovered that structure and order kept me mentally healthy. There was some comfort in controlling what I could control. I could not control when I would get pregnant. But I could make a conscious choice to declutter both my soul and my surroundings.

Friends, we grow stronger when we lighten our load. The Bible encourages us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). Is there anything in your life that's slowing you down?

Let’s pray this together: Lord, please reveal any sins, habits, or circumstances I need to “throw off” so that I can grow stronger. Empower me anew to pursue the dream you have placed on my heart.

Strong in the Lord: Doors of Protection

by Marilynn Chadwick

Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you... (Isaiah 26:20 NIV). 

I’ll say it again. Some of God’s best miracles happen behind closed doors. Jesus instructed his disciples to go into their room and shut the door when they prayed. Their Father, who "sees in secret,” would reward them, he promised. We may discover God gives us strength when we're out of sight. Hidden from people. Away from distractions.

We've been looking at some of the ways God empowers us and makes us strong. But occasionally, he puts us behind a closed door not just to strengthen us, but to protect us from a situation that is about to get dangerous. Sometimes, when God plans to judge sin, he tells us to shut the door to protect us from his wrath. “Wait a minute,” you may be saying. “You mean God judges sin here and now—not just in eternity?” You bet. In fact, the Bible is filled with examples of people whose hearts grew so hard that they eventually got what was coming to them in this life. In real time. And in eternity.

Think about the massive flood during the dark days of Noah. Or the incineration of the corrupt Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember God's instructions to the children of Israel while slaves in Egypt. “Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning” (Exodus 12:22 ESV). In other words, "Shut the door and stay put!" God was about to do two very dramatic things. 

First, he would judge the Egyptians for their refusal to heed his repeated warnings to release the Jews. He sent a destroying angel to strike down the firstborn son of each Egyptian home, passing over those homes that had blood on their door. The children of Israel could finally leave after hundreds of years of slavery—and begin their journey to the Promised Land. Second, he gave the Israelites a foreshadowing of the redemption which would take place through the coming Messiah. The blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, would bring forgiveness of sin and protect people from God’s wrath forever. 

God may shut the door for a season to protect us. The prophet Isaiah put it this way: “Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins” (Isaiah 26:20, 21 NIV).

My friend, are you discouraged by that "shut door" in your life? Perhaps God seems to have knocked you off course in a relationship. Or a plan. Or a dearly held dream. But as my husband David is fond of saying, “Rejection is God’s protection.” God may temporarily take us out of the game. He sometimes strengthens us by shielding us while he cleans up a mess that is not of our making.

So be patient. Seek the Lord. Use this time to grow strong. To prepare for the purpose that awaits you as soon as this storm is over. And don't forget to look for miracles behind closed doors. If you’re sidelined, take heart. Perhaps God is calling you to “go to your room” to draw you to himself. Maybe he has put you into hiding and doesn’t want you harmed. Always remember, “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9 ESV).  

Strong in the Lord: Shut the Door

by Marilynn Chadwick

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:6 ESV). 

There is strength in getting alone with God. The Bible tells us Jesus “withdrew often” to be alone with the Father. How much more should we? There’s no more important task on earth than seeking God. When trouble hits, I've learned to go into my room, shut the door, and seek God through his Word and prayer. 

Sometimes God may close a door in our life so we have time and space to draw close to him. We get alone to shut God in, and to shut other things—like distractions and discouragement—out. Think about it. Some of God’s greatest miracles have happened behind closed doors.

A man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house. Jairus’s only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. While Jesus was still speaking to the group, Jairus received word that his daughter had died. 

Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed” (Luke 8:50 NIV). When Jesus arrived at Jairus's house, "he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s mother and father” (v. 51).  

In other words, Jesus shut the door. He shut some things—and people—in. And he shut others out. Then Jesus took the little girl by the hand and said to her, “My child, get up!” (v. 54). Her “spirit returned,” and at once she stood up, fully revived (v. 55).

We see another shut door in 2 Kings 4:20-37. A young boy had died, and his mother ran to the prophet Elisha for help. When the prophet returned, he found the boy dead on the couch. Elisha shut the door and went in with the mother where the two of them prayed for the boy. The prophet prayed fervently, and the boy was restored to life. Yet another miracle behind closed doors! (2 Kings 4:34-35).

So, when you are weak, worried, or weary and need to strengthen yourself in the Lord, remember to go to your room and shut the door to be alone with God. 

God sometimes asks that we be quiet for a while, go to our rooms and shut the door. But take heart. Some of God’s greatest miracles occur behind closed doors.