Where does your strength lie? – Janet Bevan

‘Tell me the secret of your great strength’

In Judges 16:6

Many of us have felt the impact of recent challenges – not least the news that Sycamore Tree is no longer running in our prisons. With that in mind, I found this passage from C.H. Spurgeon’s daily readings especially encouraging.

In Judges 16:6, Delilah speaks to Samson: ‘Tell me the secret of your great strength’ Clearly Delilah was trying to find out the secret of Samson’s strength so she could use the information against him. But what about us? Where does our strength lie? When things are hard going, how do we keep on finding strength to continue?

Spurgeon says:

• It lies in what your strength feeds on. We feed on God – through His word, and through prayer (both private and communal). When we take everything to Him, as we have been encouraged to do, the weight is taken off our shoulders.
• Our strength lies in the promise – the promise of the Grace of God to each of us individually, but also as a body of believers and an organisation. Matthew 25:40 states ‘The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”’ What we do for the men and women we serve, we do as though for God Himself. If it were possible for us to do anything for Him directly, personally, we would be keen to do it. This verse tells us that God sees and appreciates all we do. Isn’t that amazing?! That is reason enough to press on in PF.

My grandsons have been looking at writing stories, and have been using the Who, What, When, Where, Why formula to help them to work it out. Applying that to PF, brings remarkable encouragement.

• WHO: Strength comes from the Great Heart of God Himself – look at the history of PF, how it came into being, how we each came to be involved, how we have been stirred/helped. What we do is really God’s compassion in action.
• WHAT: The plan and the work of God must be accomplished – sometimes in spite of us, sometimes because of us. ‘For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.’ Psalm 75:1 (NKJV) – it’s not our doing, and it’s not our glory! We do see wondrous works, because God inspires all of us to keep on achieving great things for His sake, and He blesses them.
• WHEN: ‘Your strength will equal your days.’ Deuteronomy 33:25 Our strength may not be there every day. And some days we may flag a bit. But certainly, when it is needed, we find that we have a boost of energy, and there is a joy in every task.
• WHERE: At home as we prepare, on the way to prison sessions, during prison events, on the way home, at PF group meetings, wherever we are conducting His work God says, ‘I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10 (as he prepared Jacob to lead).
• WHY: Because our God is ‘not wanting anyone to perish’- 2 Peter 3:9

Our calling comes from God Himself – who has led and guided PF in England and Wales since 1979 and in all our areas for so many years (including Swansea for 32 years).

• The omnipotent, immutable Lord of Hosts who cannot lie, cannot change and is all truth gave us His Son, His most precious thing – so He is not likely to withhold blessing from us, as He has promised, and we can claim that promise.
• He saved and baptised eight men in Swansea prison at Easter – and in various other parts of the country, too. God IS moving, and increasingly so, all over the place. Opportunities will increase, for the pure reason that God wants them to!
• We can look and think back over the years and say, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ 1 Samuel 7:12. Nothing can change that and going forward nothing can restrain the work God has in mind for us to do. There may be ‘stumbling blocks’ in our way. But, with His help, we can look for ways round and keep going.

The Spurgeon reading ends like this: ’We can say with confidence…surely goodness and mercy has followed us.’ And it will continue to go on with us into the autumn.

May we all be refreshed, re-strengthened, encouraged and ready for all the new challenges the enemy wants to put before us, but we ‘can do all things through Christ who strengthens us’. All glory to His Name!

Janet Bevan is Area Co-ordinantor for PF Swansea.

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