Man is not promised an endless supply of strength for him to store up. Rather, God promises to provide the necessary grace and strength for the present trials.
Change often results in fear. As such, it must be met with strength. Failure to do so can breed panic that only God's strength can overcome.
During times of battle, believers commonly find themselves to be underdogs. Faith, however, refuses to retreat and trusts God to overcome superior foes.
Man must spend his strength on things that matter. In doing so, we must focus our efforts upon the right things while working through and by God's power.
The Lord is the strength of His people. While it is true that we are called to do our part, God must add the necessary strength to accomplish the work.
The apostle Paul was a man who believed his actions were simply the wishes and desires of God. This was until the Lord met him on the road to Damascus. Paul’s warfare with the Lord was likened to Paul kicking against pricks. Though Paul thought he was doing the right thing, he was, in reality, hurting himself by putting himself at odds with the Lord. Some men in Paul’s position would testify to the Lord concerning their own good when directly confronted by the Lord. Paul, however, responded by submitting himself to the Lord’s conviction and seeking out the necessary means for proper restitution. He did not accuse the Lord or justify himself. Instead, the apostle asked the question, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”
Conviction testifies of guilt and transgression. It testifies that God is just while man is vile. It testifies to the gap of righteousness that exists between the two. If men were righteous apart from the Lord’s help, the Lord would never need to convince men that they are transgressors of His law. When men violate or transgress the law of God, the Spirit of God uses that law to convince those guilty that they are wrong and need to make things right with the Lord. The very presence of conviction confirms man’s guilt. It cries out that I am wrong and God is right. Perhaps this explains why in these last days, fewer seem interested in experiencing the convicting work of the Spirit of God.
Man’s conviction is a work of God that begins within a man, hidden from the view of others. Yet, that work ultimately manifests itself on the outside. As the apostle Paul reasoned with Felix concerning righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, the Spirit of God took the sword of the Spirit (the word of God) and worked within Felix. Though Felix’s conviction did not lead to his immediate conversion, it visibly affected him by causing him to outwardly tremble. The book of Daniel tells us that the Lord interrupted king Belshazzar’s party and caused his knees to smite against each other (Daniel 5:1-6). The Second Book of the Kings tells of Josiah’s conviction that was manifested through his weeping and the rending of his clothes (2 Kings 22:19).
Once confronted by the presence of the Holy One, man’s personal viewpoint always becomes increasingly realistic. By all standards, Job was a good man, yet the presence of God caused him to abhor himself “and repent in dust and ashes.” Conviction always magnifies the greatness of God and reminds man of his own vile nature. Ezra’s conviction was described as heaviness (Ezra 9:5) which caused him to rend his garment. That conviction humbled Ezra to the point where he said, “I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens” (Ezra 9:6).
When David chose to take Bathsheba to himself, he sinned against the Lord. Sometime thereafter, the Lord began to work in David’s heart convincing him of his wrongdoing. David described this painful process as something like having his bones broken (Psalm 51:8). The convicting work of God confirmed David’s “bloodguiltiness” (Psalm 51:14). It assured him that he had sinned against God and needed to repent. This conviction brought great fear to David’s heart (Psalm 51:11). At the same time, this conviction led David to acknowledge his transgressions (Psalm 51:3), seek God’s mercy (Psalm 51:1), and ask God to renew a right spirit within him (Psalm 51:10).
