So What Does God's Strength Look Like Anyways?

I thought today that I would share an analogy I like to use when helping men understand what it means to be given's God's strength to overcome.

As Christians, we often wonder why God doesn't just take our temptations away. God is that powerful, He is that strong, surely He has the strength to take that away from us and make our lives better.

The thing is, we're not asking God to make our lives better: we're asking Him to make our lives easier, and really, that's no different than addiction already. Our addictive behaviours are methodologies we addicts uses to help us a) cope, b) feel normal, c) numb out the pain of our past traumas that echo in our present lives. We don't have the strength to cope with present stressors, we lack the ability to self-soothe in a non-harmful way, and the pain of living in our present reality is so overwhelming that we just want to forget everything and everyone and we rush headlong into our addiction.

So how would God just taking this all away give us strength to face other temptations, other pain?

"But I'm not strong enough!" is often the cry of the addict newly into his journey of sobriety. "I'm not strong enough to withstand that temptation!" That's correct: you aren't strong enough. At least, initially. But you could be.

The journey into sobriety is a lot like weightlifting: you are exercising muscles (emotional, relational, spiritual) you didn't know you had. Because you've been ignoring them, they have atrophied. You feel that ending your addiction to sex is a lot like bench pressing 400lbs: an impossible task (and if you CAN benchpress 400lbs, then make that number 900, ok?)(show off).

Everyone that starts weight training doesn't start with 400lbs on the bench: they start with the bar, about 35 or 45 lbs. They have a spotter who helps them learn proper form: how to get the bar off the rest, how to properly go through the motion of lowering and lifting the bar, what the range of motion is. Yes, I'm sure you feel silly with someone watching you lift a bar with nothing on it, but soon you start adding weights.

Then you get to a point where by your second or third set, you have approached a point a failure: you're muscles burn, your arms are shaking, and you literally are stuck. You lack the strength to finish that last rep, to completely lift that bar so you can place it back on the rack.

So what does a good spotter do? Does he just lift the bar off of you? OR, does he, because he's a good spotter and has seen you approaching the point of failure, wait until you ask for help, then with two fingers add just enough pressure and strength to help you lift that bar completely, then just as gently help you bring that bar to rest?

Why? Why does the spotter do that? To help you build up the strength and endurance so that eventually, you'll be able not only to lift that weight, but to lift even more.

I know this isn't a perfect analogy, but I like it because while God provides us the strength, it still remains upon us to continue lifting, to continue working, so that we become stronger in our abilities to withstand temptation, to do the next right thing, to make our calls, to reach out for help, to remember that we are not sex addicts but God's children in whom He delights. And loves.

These abilities, to pray when tempted, to call someone when tempted, to think about things that are good, noble, pure, trustworthy, lovely and not just stew in sexual fantasy, require practice and work.

So how is this encouraging then? Isn't it obvious? God believes that you have the strength, ability, and the intestinal fortitude to do that next right thing and all He is doing is giving you that gentle nudge to do it. God believes in you. He believes that you can do it. So believe in yourself, knowing that you have the God of the Universe there right beside you, spotting you.