Psalm 84:7 states, “They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeared before God.”
A little girl got on my school bus one morning with crutches. She had been sick and bedridden for over a month. In that time she had lost strength in her legs—therefore the crutches. Within a short time of using her leg muscles, her strength returned. This can happen in our walk with Jesus. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
It is exciting to watch a little toddler take their first step. Not only is balance and courage needed, the muscles themselves must become strong. The psalmist says in verse 5 that we are blessed when our strength is in the Lord. God puts that strength in our heart. He does that day by day, step by step. We can become weary, until our flesh cries out for the living God (V.2).
God’s original exercise plan was “work six, rest one, work six, rest one.” This plan of work and rest is throughout His creation. The heart muscle beats between 2.5 to 3 billion times over a normal lifespan of 70 to 80 years (Google). How can it do that? By taking a rest after every beat. God made day and night for us to work and rest. By sleeping 8 hours and working 16 hours, we are still sleeping a third of our life away.
Jesus was faithful to go to the temple, but spent most of His time walking the dusty roads of Israel. We should go to church on Sunday, meet daily with the Lord, and then go out and exercise our faith. There will be mountains and valleys, highs and lows. When our strength is in the Lord we can make the journey. Deuteronomy 33:25-27 states, “Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them.”
The psalmist also mentions “…passing through the valley of Baca…” (V. 6). I could not find a location for the valley of Baca. No doubt it existed. It represents a dry place, a place of weeping. We can expect to go through dry spells in our journey. It was that way in the wilderness wanderings. God was faithful to bring water from the rock, wells in the ground or rain from the heavens above.
The bottom line is God knows our weakness, our hard places, our trials. He will give us strength if we keep walking with Him. Walking after the Spirit brings us to appear before God (V. 7). Tired? Weary? Discouraged? Take heart and go from STRENGTH TO STRENGTH!
