OceanSide church of Christ

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IS THY STRENGTH SMALL?

Victor M. Eskew

 

            The Bible teaches us that certain things are indicators of various aspects of our Christian lives.  Our obedience to God is an indicator of our love for God.  “For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments:  and his commandments are not grievous” (I John 5:3).  Our works are an indicator of the amount of faith that resides within us.  “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:  shew me thy faith without thy woks, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18).  In this article, we want to talk about an indicator of our strength.

            The wise author of Proverbs mentions the indicator of our strength in Proverbs 24:10.  He declares:  “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”  The indicator of our strength is the manner in which we handle adversity.  Strong defines adversity as “tightness.”  He says that figuratively it means “trouble.”  In addition to adversity, the Hebrew word is also translated as:  “adversary, affliction, anguish, distress, tribulation, and trouble.”

            Jesus promised that each of us will experience tribulation.  “…In the world ye shall have tribulation…” (John 16:33).  Paul mentions the fact that while we are in our earthly tabernacle, that is, our earthly body, we groan, being burdened (II Cor.5:2, 4).  He also taught that the godly will face periods of persecution in II Timothy 3:12.  “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”  Trouble, hardship, adversity, all of them are part of living in a world that has given itself over to Satan and sin.  We will not be completely free of distress unto we reach our heavenly home (See Rev. 21:4).

            When trouble arises in our lives, we have must make a choice.  We must respond to the tribulation that comes our way.  We can faint, or, we can be strong, and face adversity.  Again, the inspired writer tells us:  “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”  Brown, Driver, and Briggs defines the word “faint” as “relax, be disheartened, withdraw, idle, abandon, refrain, and forsake.”  They also say that it means “to show thyself slack.”  If a person is strong, he will manifest the opposite qualities.  He will have heart. He will be fully engaged.  He will show himself a mighty warrior.

            There is hardly any better contrast in how individuals can respond to adversity than in the account of David and Goliath.  Adversity appeared before Israel in the form of a giant foot soldier of the Philistines named Goliath.  He was a monster of a man and was well equipped for battle.  Day after day, he appeared on the battlefield and cried out, saying:  “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me man, that we may fight together” (I Sam. 17:10).  King Saul and his army fainted.  “When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid” (I Sam. 17:11).  Their strength was small.  A shepherd lad, on the other hand, came to the field of battle and manifested great strength when he heard the Philistine’s challenge.  “And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (I Sam. 17:32).  Notice two things.  First, adversity came to Israel.    Second, the people of Israel had to make a choice.  Saul and his army fainted.  David stood. 

            There are many examples in Scripture of God’s people who fainted when adversity presented itself.  Elijah the prophet had his life threatened by the wicked Jezebel.  She “sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time” (I Kings 19:2).  Elijah had just finished a battle against the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.  He was tired.  When this distress came upon him, he fainted.  “And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.  But he himself when a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree:  and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers” (I Kings 19:3-4). 

            The apostles also fainted in the day of adversity.  Judas led a band of men to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to have Jesus arrested.  Peter tried to defend the Christ, but was told to put up his sword into its sheath.  Once the disciples knew that Jesus was going to be arrested, they withdrew from Him.  “And they all forsook him, and fled” (Mark 15:50).  They proved their strength was small.

            Another one who fainted in the day of adversity was Demas.  When Paul wrote his second epistle to Timothy, he was in a Roman prison.  He had made his first appearance before Caesar (II Tim. 4:16).  He knew the time of his death was near.  “For I am now ready to be offered, and time of my departure is at hand” (II Tim. 4:7).  For a period of time, Demas was with Paul in Rome.  However, when Demas felt that being near Paul threatened his own life, he withdrew from him.  Paul writes:  “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica…” (II Tim. 4:10).  Demas did not have the strength to stand as Paul was doing.  The thought of death caused him to buckle.  He, too, proved his strength was small.

            Brethren, we are living in a time of adversity.  Satan has mustered his forces against us in numerous ways, ways we have never seen before.  We have been in the midst of the corona virus pandemic for almost a year.  It threatens our well-being.  It has even caused the death of some individuals.  Our nation is also in the midst of radical transformation.  There are many who oppose our founding principles.  They want to radically change the United States.  A part of this transformation will involve restrictions on religious freedom.  It may mean that religion will become the enemy of the State.  When adversity arises, we must respond.  How have you responded?  Have you fainted?  Or, have you shown yourself to be fearless?  As you contemplate how you have responded thus far, and how you will respond in the future, please keep in mind the words of the writer of Proverbs:  “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small” (Prov. 24:10).