God is the Strength of My Heart

At the end of high school, I participated in a 10 week bible training course. I received hours of teaching, but I remember little of what was taught. I am confident that each of the teachers had great truths to impart. It was the very best of what the institutional church had to offer me. The problem is that most of what is taught in the Church and to the Church springs from human wisdom. The truths that are most distinct in my memory are from those times in which the Holy Spirit spoke to me directly.

"My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" - Psalms 73:26 (NKJV)

There was a particular day during those 10 weeks in which I was feeling overwhelmed. In the years previous, I had received several prophetic words about the calling that God had placed on my life. I had been thinking about the long road ahead, and I felt quite discouraged. I was trying to figure out how I would find the necessary courage and motivation to carry me through. At the end of one of the teaching sessions, the minister prayed for each of us individually. As he laid hands on me, I fell under the power of the Holy Spirit. As I made my way to the floor, I began to hear a song playing in my heart. I had sung it many times before in that church, “God is the strength of my heart. God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”. The Holy Spirit was reminding me that God would be my courage and my motivation.

It is my practice to remember, to mediate on, and to pray back to God the prophetic words that have been spoken over me. This is how I encourage myself in the Lord. I have many days where I find deep discouragement to be a temptation. Discouragement promises a false rest that comes from believing that God’s plans for my life are impossible and that I can give up on them. A couple of years ago, a friend spoke a prophetic word over me. She said that I looked at what God had called me to do and felt that it was impossible. The encouragement was that God calls me to do what I do not know how to do and that he would train me. Most importantly, my eyes had to remain on God instead of what he had called me to do.

I believe that God knows what he is doing. I am his work of art, and he values me! My greatest encouragement has been found in admitting that I cannot do what God wants me to do. I cannot perform at a high enough level to qualify for knowing him and experiencing him and being used by him. Thankfully, this whole life is about the goodness and kindness of God. The more that I am aware of my unworthiness, the more that I can rest in who God is for me. He is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.