I have been told that I am a strong person. In my case, people are referring to my ability to overcome difficult circumstances. While my strength has been a blessing, some have taken advantage of it. I have been told that a common sentiment among my family is that “She’s strong. She will be okay.”
Please do not misunderstand, my family does love me. However, it is often taken for granted that the “strong” person does not require the same level of care, concern, or follow-up while they are enduring life’s challenges.
In Judges 16:6, Delilah infamously uttered these words to Samson: “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” Samson was known for his physical strength. It allowed him to defeat the Philistines (the enemies of Israel) repeatedly. The leaders of the Philistines bribed Delilah to find out the source of his strength.
As women, we are often expected to be strong not only for ourselves, but for others as well. Your spouse, kids, elderly parents, best friends, and church members may depend on you to be an encouragement for them. You may find yourself carrying their loads as well as your own burdens. As a result, life can become overwhelming and frustrating.
What is your strength? Is it an internal or mental fortitude? Is it your relationship with your parents, spouse, or kids? Is it your career or finances, your education or intellect? Is it your church, your home, your leadership skills, your ability to organize?
My family environment forged “strength” in me. I learned early in life that when times got hard, there would be no one to help me through it. I couldn’t depend on people to make sure that I was okay. This taught me to be self-sufficient and independent, that people will abandon and reject me, so I must be true to myself. I developed and survived in that strength for years, but life got the best of me—it became too much.
What is the source of your strength?
In Judges 16:5, the Philistines correctly suspected that if they could find out the source of Samson’s strength, they could trap him.
“The rulers of the Philistines went to [Delilah] and said, ‘See if you can lure [Samson] into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.’”
When Delilah persisted, Judges 16:17 records, “he told her all his heart, and said to her, ‘No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man’” (NKJV).
The Philistines used this “source” of Samson’s strength to trap him, cut his hair, blind him, and put him in prison. Samson credited his unshaven head as being that source, but the Scriptures explain that it was the Spirit of the Lord that moved on Samson to accomplish mighty feats (Judges 13:25; 14:6,19; 15:14).
Just like with Samson, Satan our enemy is studying us to see where our strength lies. Whatever we credit as being the source of our strength other than God, Satan will use to afflict us. There is no stable foundation outside of the Living God.
While I have lived through difficult circumstances, God remains the source of my strength. I have learned (and am learning) not to trust in my own strength and abilities. Anything that I have and anything that I am is only a resource for God to use to show Himself mighty and strong.
If you and I are going to accomplish the mighty feats that are required to live day-to-day, God must be the source of our strength. Don’t look to people, finances, education, possessions, or even yourself to be your strength. Look to the Lord alone.
“I love you, Lord, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure” (Ps. 18:1-3, 32).
~ By T. L. Lockley. T. L. Lockley is a member of Tabernaculo La Roca, a vibrant church with locations in Lebanon, TN, Cookeville, TN, and Dalton, Ga. She serves women in her community by co-facilitating a grief support group. She is currently in Bible school. Her passion is to encourage fellow believers to grow in their relationship with God. Visit her blog tllockley.com.
