Anne Perreault's Blog - Posts Tagged "strength"
To be strong
I've been pondering on what it means to be strong. According to the world, a strong woman is a successful one or an independent one. I don't think that right because quite frankly it seems so ambivalent. Strength has to be more than being independent, successful, riches. What do all those words mean, anyway? Aren't they somewhat ambivalent and objective?
I began to think about the people in my life I considered strong and what the reason for their strength was. Here's what I've come up with, and please, this is only my own opinion and I want to share it with you. Because I like ya.
I know a lot of women who are independent and 'strong'. I've come to see a difference in people who are independent and those whose strength doesn't come from only their own self. These women and men have suffered loss in their lives and have been knocked down numerous times. And each time they hurt. They cry. They even get angry at God and ask the age old question... WHY?
But that's never the end of it.
Like David, whenever he cried out to the Lord in anguish, the get-up, dust themselves off and continue on. A little wiser for sure. Much more cautious, you can count on that. And still pondering what God is doing.
To me, this is the epitome of strength.
They know they are weak. They know they need help. They know they can't do this on their own. They reach to the only one who can help them. Jesus Christ.
Our Lord didn't come here to save us from all the pain and suffering on this earth. He wanted us to be different, stand out, and show that there are better ways to handle everything from conflict to marriage to loss. When I think of strength I think of a man or a woman who has struggled and yet has been made strong not through her own intelligence, ingenuity or independence. Those are amazing qualities and very honorable and valuable in today's world. But strength isn't all about that. It's being humble and pressing into God.
I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my
God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn
of my salvation, and my high tower.
Ps 18:1,2
I began to think about the people in my life I considered strong and what the reason for their strength was. Here's what I've come up with, and please, this is only my own opinion and I want to share it with you. Because I like ya.
I know a lot of women who are independent and 'strong'. I've come to see a difference in people who are independent and those whose strength doesn't come from only their own self. These women and men have suffered loss in their lives and have been knocked down numerous times. And each time they hurt. They cry. They even get angry at God and ask the age old question... WHY?
But that's never the end of it.
Like David, whenever he cried out to the Lord in anguish, the get-up, dust themselves off and continue on. A little wiser for sure. Much more cautious, you can count on that. And still pondering what God is doing.
To me, this is the epitome of strength.
They know they are weak. They know they need help. They know they can't do this on their own. They reach to the only one who can help them. Jesus Christ.
Our Lord didn't come here to save us from all the pain and suffering on this earth. He wanted us to be different, stand out, and show that there are better ways to handle everything from conflict to marriage to loss. When I think of strength I think of a man or a woman who has struggled and yet has been made strong not through her own intelligence, ingenuity or independence. Those are amazing qualities and very honorable and valuable in today's world. But strength isn't all about that. It's being humble and pressing into God.
I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my
God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn
of my salvation, and my high tower.
Ps 18:1,2
