Last night I got to dance with a bunch of my friends and do swing, salsa, rumba, and waltz. One of the songs we danced to was "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson. And it got me thinking: what is the world's definition of strength compared to God's?
I think the main difference is that society conveys a strength that comes from ourselves and glorifies ourselves. We want to exude strength through intelligence, skill, hiding our emotions, and so on. But even though we may be able to keep it up for a while, eventually that "strength" is just going to shatter like glass. But we think, somehow, that puffing ourselves up, making ourselves look good on the outside, is strength.
But what about God's strength? One of the amazing and beautiful things about God is that He works in the very opposite way we think He should. He took a mere youth and overthrew a giant. He took a few hundred men from Gideon's army and performed a great victory. He sent, not a military commander or "king", but a loving, humble Man to show the essence of His love.
And when we're at the lowest points of our life, He takes us and uses us in unbelievable ways. That way, we're relying on His strength, not ours. As David proclaimed in Psalm 51, "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart..."
When we come before God, admitting our weakness, He fills us with strength to go beyond our wildest dreams...way beyond anything our own strength would allow.