A Strong Mind

A Strong Mind.

Be strong (heb: chazaq) in mind and depend upon God, while making decisions in times of trouble.

2Chronicles 16:9 reads, "For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him."

King Asa of Judah depended upon God in when he was facing a massive army from Ethiopia (Cush). Asa depended upon God and defeated the enemy and was victorious. But at an other instance when King Baasha of Israel was invading Judah, this troubling time, Asa instead of looking towards God, Asa sought help from King Benhadad of Syria. Prophets like Azariah and Hanani encouraged Asa to depend upon God in a troubled times. Asa sometimes listened and was rewarded within his walls with peace and rest, and when stopped worshipping the Lord he faced trouble. Though he defeated a massive army once, he sought help from an idlatrous king Benhadad, named after the the son of god of storms and thunder. 

Asa meant healer, rather than being a healer for his people and his land depending upon the Lord, he looked towards idlatrous king rather than making the Lord supreme over him. Sometime we too look unto the idlatrous rulers for our benefit rather than depending upon the Lord for help. Being a small army, Asa defeated a massive army, though we in this world are a small faithful people of the Lord, we too can defeat this massive hostile vigilantes. The only thing we require is the help of the Living Lord and an untroubled heart of strong faith in a gruesome world. 

C.S.Lewis in his 1948 essay, “On Living in an Atomic Age,” his words follow, seemingly applicable today as they were 70-plus years ago.

How are we to live in an atomic age?

I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.

If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.

They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds."

Let's not be troubled in this world as like ill knowledge people, but be strong in mind and decisions to face a troublesome world. Let's be aware that the Lord is searching for his faithful.