Daily Affirmations - Day 7 - Strength to Strength - Training and Equipping
- Alisa B.
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- 2 min read
Day 7: Training and equipping
The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker (2 Samuel 3:1).Â
O Lord of infinite might and understanding, to You belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are Yours (Job 12:13). You are sovereign over all— the only One with the power to say, "But I the Lord will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay" (Ezekiel 12:25).
Ultimately no purpose of Yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2), though we don't always understand Your ways, or Your timing. We lose perspective that You are God, that You see much farther than our limited vision, that You know beyond our limited capacity. And that in the intervals of our waiting, our impatience, and our questions, You are working, and training and equipping and preparing.
You show us in the life of David that the process of preparation may be long and arduous, lonely and frightening. But we see You moving Your designated leader from strength to strength— from the setting apart, the calling and the anointing, through the battles and the victories, the trials and the temptations, the failures and the despairs, the rejections and the recoveries, the gains and the losses, the joys and the heartbreaks.
Through it all, David learned invaluable lessons in strategic thinking, in leadership skills, in wisdom and discretion, in humility and compassion, in friendship and trust, in judgment and prudence, in courage and character. And he learned an unwavering dependence on His God. And finally, when the time was right, after the long battle on many fronts, David grew stronger and stronger, while the forces in opposition to Your plan grew weaker and weaker and faded from view.
Encourage us in our own journey, Lord, as You show us Your ways. You may not call us to be kings or powerful leaders of nations, but You have a plan for our lives— a "territory" for us to govern— a mission and an assignment that You have determined for us in Your great wisdom.
Help us to trust Your heart and Your guiding hand. Help us to know that even in the school of hardship and difficulty, frustration and pain, in all the setbacks in this broken and messed up world, You are preparing us, refining us, qualifying us, training and equipping us for the work.
Sovereign Lord, help us to press forward to the goal. Let perseverance finish its work [in us] so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:4).
Build our strength and our skills. Teach us all we need in strategic thinking, in leadership skills, in wisdom and discretion, in humility and compassion, in friendship and trust, in judgment and prudence, in courage and character. Teach us an unwavering dependence on our God.
