In Bihar the electricity supply is really bad. There are times when you don't have power supply for days. When there is a power failure one would have no idea as to when the power would be back. Sometimes even when there is power, the voltage is so low that you can barely use the electricity for anything.One cannot use the TV or the music system or any kitchen appliances. The only things that would work would be the bulb and the fan. The bulb would not be bright, it would be more like a night bulb. And the fan would be so slow that you would hardly get any air from it. People usually don't depend on the electricity and instead use inverters and generators.
Sometime back I was reading through Psalm 29, I was amazed at the strength of our God. Our God is so so amazingly strong. The cedars of Lebanon are supposed to be toughest of wood. When God commanded Solomon to build a temple for him, wherever wood had to be used, cedar was used. It was so tough that it would be hard to even cut it into two. When King David built his palace, King Hiram sent him the cedars of Lebanon to be used for the building. When King Hiram sent cedars for King Solomon to build the house of God, he could not send the cedar using mules or horses, he had to float them down the sea as rafts.
About this same cedars of Lebanon, it is said in Psalm 29: 5 saying that the voice of God breaks (splinters) the cedars of Lebanon. He does not have to break or even touch it. His voice is enough to break the cedars. The whole chapter goes on about the strength of God comparing it to the mighty waters, lightning, thunder. I was discussing about the way God's strength has been described in this passage with a friend of mine and we were awed and completely completely excited and fascinated just by thinking and trying to imagine how great and how strong this God of ours is.
The most beautiful fact comes later on in the chapter, in the last verse. Here it says - God gives strength to his people. The amplified version says it more beautifully - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people. It says Unyielding and Impenetrable strength. Its like God first describing in His word about how great His strength is and then while we are sitting awed and fascinated, he says - I will give this same strength to you. My God is just fabulous.
If I am carrying around with me the strength of my God, I will be as strong as he is. Well, when can a person's real strength be seen? Its seen during times of adversity, times of problems, times of pain, times of testing. If I get angry easily, cry easily, feel dejected, ignored, get irritated easily, feel depressed and despaired and desperate over small issues - it has just one thing to say - that my strength is definitely not coming from God.
When the bulb in Bihar gives out a small feeble light and the fan is rotating so slowly, we know for sure that its low voltage. When the voltage is good the light would be bright and the electricity would be useful. Everything runs depending on the supply it gets from its source. Its just depending on the strength of the voltage that everything runs. When the voltage is low, everything would be slow and dim. When the voltage is good, everything would run well and be bright. When the source of my strength is God, I would be strong. If I am weak, my source is in the wrong place.
If I say I have God's strength in me but cannot stand during tough times, definitely what I'm saying would not hold true. His strength is unyielding and impenetrable. Sometimes its so tough to stand firm during tough times. When we don't know why things happen the way they are happening. But that is what God wants us to do. To stand firm in His strength. To be Unyielding and Impenetrable. Don't let anyone upset, anger, irritate, offend or hurt you. Don't let the devil steal out God's strength from you. God not only promises strength to his people but He also promises to bless us with His peace.
Our strength comes from Him who created the cedars of Lebanon. Our strength comes from Him who can break the cedars of Lebanon by just talking. Our strength comes from Him who has promised to give us unyielding, impenetrable strength.
Psalm 29: 5 - The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon
Psalm 29: 11 - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.
This is a very good one. At times we overlook the verses without understanding the true meaning of each word written. Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering how the first paragraph is going to relate to the verses.... well it was a BANG!
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