When life gets too busy or hard, we can feel drained and low on strength, and find ourselves operating in a vulnerable state. Making a mental choice to “do better or be stronger” is not really enough because we are spiritual beings.

When we have “given of ourselves too much” or are living with an “open wound caused by a deep hurt” or “severe loss” of some kind, we must stop and deal with our condition. How we handle our stressed or weakened condition is everything.

If we listen to sad secular music, we will get sadder. If we listen to the unseen spiritual enemy, who tries to convince us of how unfair things are and how much worse we have it than others, it will not help us at all and only make matters worse. There are endless possibilities of all kinds of unhealthy thoughts and situations that do not build us back up or strengthen us.

For those of us who are Christians, we have the Lord. If we will remain close to Him, calling upon and even crying out to Him, it makes it possible for the Lord to help us. When we lay our issues at His feet and worship Him from our hearts, despite the pain, something amazing happens. We become comforted and strengthened. Additionally, as we listen to Christian praise and worship or simply sing something meaningful from our hearts to the Lord, the process continues. This is God's way of helping us re-hydrate spiritually.

In a way, the “spiritual us” operates along with the “mental us.” The deeper level is the spiritual. This deeper level is where our “spiritual strength” comes from. Positive “thoughts” are nice and helpful but only in the deeper part of us, are we really strengthened spiritually.

In choosing to “trust and praise God” - especially and including when it hurts the most, we find something that cannot be attained any other way and that is a deeper level of spiritual strength. Sincere prayer, worship, godly mediation, praise, etc - all these actions on our part, are used by the Lord, to strengthen us.

If we try to continue in our “own strength” or by just “trying to be more positive” we may be helped somewhat but not in strength that comes from doing it the Lord's way. We are not just physical beings with minds; we are spiritual beings with bodies and minds. Much secular reasoning, and even some reasoning found in the church, says that emotions are only mental. This is not true and is the reason why finding mental solutions is often not near enough.

When we give our “issues” - our hurts, pains, needs, etc. to the Master of wisdom, love, comfort and strength and we trust and praise Him despite how bad it hurts at the time, then we are allowing God to help us His way. And we all know that His ways are higher and better than ours.

Some Christians have come to a place in their lives when they do this automatically because they have learned to do so by being sensitive to listening to the Holy Spirit and His direction. But some have never realized the process or even seen it demonstrated. The choices we make when we are hurt and even struggling the most, are especially going to be for better or worse. Choosing the Lord and His ways are the best ways and with trust, praise, worship and prayer and even simple songs sung sincerely to Him from our hearts will bless the Lord but also restrengthen us. Just as physical athletes must be hydrated, so must Christians in the daily battles of life. And sometimes the battles come rapidly, one after another. These types of godly choices, help “hydrate us” for the kind of strength we need daily and especially when life is too much or too fast.

So let us choose to battle God's way, taking time to face our challenges and circumstances with His Word and actually stand on His promises. We can give our pains and issues to Him, trusting in His plans for our situations. And instead of allowing the negative thoughts that the devil comes with or even our own negative thoughts of doubt and despair, or choosing to listen to sad secular songs that drain us even more; we can choose to listen to healing and uplifting godly songs and stay close to the Lord through prayer and worship. These types of choices give the Lord the opportunity to restrengthen us.

In conclusion, becoming a Christian is just the beginning. We must learn to live life according the direction of God's Word, the Bible, and by the direction of the Holy Spirit. And as we do as Jesus did, taking time out from the pressures and hurriedness of living in a demanding world, to personally seek the Lord alone and find His refreshing, then we in-turn, are strengthened and will go through the next round of daily pressures from a place of strength instead of feeling drained and in a weakened condition. As we literally “praise the Lord” from our hearts, He lifts us up from where ever we are! To win the battles of daily life, we must invest making the kind of choices that help us operate from a place of strength!


E. Cockrell