Condition: Weakness
Weakness can be physical or emotional. These tend to work together. If you’re weak emotionally, it is a natural consequence to feel weak physically. Fortunately, God is willing and able to strengthen you if you’re weak.
Weakness Is a Curse That You Should Not Have
A general weakness or run-down feeling cannot possibly be God’s will for you because it is cited explicitly as a consequence for sin in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. Paul said that many were weak and sickly (and even dead) among the Corinthians because of their failure to walk in love toward the Church and recognize the Body of Christ in communion. This can have two applications. The most obvious, and the main point in the context, is that those who choose not to walk in love toward the Body of Christ can get weak and sick and die as a consequence. Another application is that by making light of communion, they were failing to recognize the significance of the broken bread. They were just pigging out on it as natural food, but that bread represented the Body of Christ that was broken for their physical healing. Failure to recognize the healing portion of the atonement can also leave you sick and weak, not realizing that you don’t have to be that way.
General physical weakness was considered a curse in the Old Testament as well. Part of the curse for breaking the Law is found in Deuteronomy 28:32: “And there shall be no might in thine hand.” God does not want you to bear something that He declares to be a curse and declares you to be redeemed from in Galatians 3:13.
This should not be confused with our weakness in our flesh to accomplish anything for God apart from the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus said that his flesh was weak in this regard, and you will deal with this until your dying day. This discussion is about physical lethargy, not about weakness in terms of inability to produce. (Most references to weakness in the New Testament refer to the latter.)
Your Faith Can Make You Strong
Although the following advice in context was actually offered to Israel’s enemies, it is still worth noting: “Let the weak say, I am strong” (Joel 3:10). That is a good starting point if you have been feeling weak all the time. Start saying that you are strong instead of reinforcing your problem by always complaining about how weak you feel. In fact, complaining (including “praying” the antibiblical “prayer of complaining”) will just leave you overwhelmed and lead you away from where you want to be in God, just as it did for Asaph. Psalm 77:3 says, “I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.”
Hebrews 11:34 says that by faith, men out of weakness were made strong. If through faith they could become strong instead of weak, so can you. God did this even for Old Testament people: “They that stumbled are girded with strength” (1 Samuel 2:4).
How will you get this faith to be strong? By reading and believing what God says about strength:
God Is Your Strength
God declares himself to be “The Strength of Israel” (1 Samuel 15:29). “The LORD is my strength and song” – Exodus 15:2. “God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect” – 2 Samuel 22:33. “I will love thee, O LORD my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength...” – Psalm 18:1-2. “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” – Psalm 19:14. “But be not far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.” – Psalm 22:19. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalm 27:1.
We’re not done with this theme yet! “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.” – Psalm 28:7-8. “Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength” – Psalm 31:4. “But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.” – Psalm 37:39. “For thou art the God of my strength...” – Psalm 43:2. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1.
Read on: “Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.” – Psalm 59:17. “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” – Psalm 73:26. “Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.” – Psalm 81:1. “The LORD is my strength and my song, and is become my salvation.” – Psalm 118:14. “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight” – Psalm 144:1.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.” – Isaiah 12:2. “Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hath not been mindful of the rock of thy strength...” – Isaiah 17:10. “For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” – Isaiah 25:4. “And my God shall be my strength” – Isaiah 49:5. “O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction...” – Jeremiah 16:19. “But the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” – Joel 3:16. “The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” – Habakkuk 3:19.
God Gives You Strength
“He [Israel] hath as it were the strength of an unicorn” – Numbers 23:22, also Numbers 24:8. “For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.” – 2 Samuel 22:40. “And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me” – Ezra 7:28. “It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hind’s feet, and setteth me upon my high places.” – Psalm 18:32-33. “The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;” – Psalm 20:1-2. “The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD...” – Psalm 21:1. “The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.” – Psalm 29:11.
“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.” – Psalm 31:24. “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.” – Psalm 62:7. “Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.” – Psalm 68:28. “Oh, God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.” – Psalm 68:35. “I will go in the strength of the LORD God” – Psalm 71:16.
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee...they go from strength to strength” – Psalm 84:5-7. “My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.” – Psalm 119:28. “In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.” – Psalm 138:3. “Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength” – Isaiah 26:4. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed,; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” – Isaiah 41:10. “Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength…” – Isaiah 45:24.
God’s strength undoes physical weaknesses as well as other kinds of weaknesses. In Acts 3:1-16, the crippled man’s feet and ankle bones received strength. Jesus’ name, through faith in His name, made that man strong. In Hebrews 11:11, Sarah’s faith gave her the strength to conceive a child. In Psalm 41:1-3, God says that He will strengthen the sick giver upon his sickbed. Perhaps most notably, Romans 8:11 declares that the Spirit of God will quicken (impart life to) your mortal body. This clearly refers to physical strength. It is part of the Holy Spirit’s job to impart strength and health into your body! This makes sense because He is called the Spirit of Might in Isaiah 11:2.
Isaiah 35:3-6 and Hebrews 12:12-13 also talk about being strengthened physically.
God wants you to have inner spiritual strength as well, as prayed by Paul in Ephesians 3:16: “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man....” Paul also prayed that believers would be “strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power” (Colossians 1:11).
God Can Even Send Angels to Strengthen You!
Jesus Christ Himself was strengthened by an angel: “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” – Luke 22:43. We also know that the angels ministered to Him in the wilderness: “Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” – Matthew 4:11. An angel physically strengthened Daniel, also: “For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me.” – Daniel 10:17-19. The Lord Himself stood by Paul and strengthened him (2 Timothy 4:17) when all his workers forsook him (2 Timothy 4:14-16). Paul said that he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him (Philippians 4:13).
Put on God’s Strength
God’s strength does not just drop on you automatically. You must choose to walk in it. “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD…” – Isaiah 51:9. “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion…” – Isaiah 52:1. “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might” – Ephesians 6:10.
Fellowshipping with God and Praising Him Charges You with His Strength
Fellowshipping with God physically strengthens the weak – read Isaiah 40:29-31! Also, “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually” – 1 Chronicles 16:11. “Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place” – 1 Chronicles 16:27. “Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength to all.” – 1 Chronicles 29:12. “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, upon the LORD.” – Psalm 27:13-14. “Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.” – Psalm 105:4. “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” – Isaiah 30:15. “Keep silence before me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength” – Isaiah 41:1.
As part of your fellowship with God, rejoice in Him! It is no great secret that depressed people feel weaker than joyful people do. Nehemiah 8:10 declares, “The joy of the LORD is your strength.” If your strength level is down, check out your joy level. Perhaps you could stand to spend more time rejoicing in God’s presence. Don’t underestimate how praise can charge you up physically! Psalm 8:2 says, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength…” and Jesus clarified what this strength was: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise” (Matthew 21:16).
Rely on God to strengthen you rather than just trying to strengthen yourself. Trying to do it yourself is not the way to go: “The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man who made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.” – Psalm 52:6-7.
Remember that in God’s presence, where you are always welcome (Ephesians 1:6), there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).
Walking in God’s Ways Strengthens You
“I [wisdom] am understanding; I have strength.” – Proverbs 8:14. “The way of the LORD is strength to the upright” – Proverbs 10:29. “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength” – Proverbs 24:5. “Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city” – Ecclesiastes 7:19. If you want strength, walk in God’s wisdom.
You Don’t Have to Be Helplessly Weak Just Because You’re Old
If you think you have to become debilitated because you’re getting old, look at Moses – he didn't become decrepit (Deuteronomy 34:7). Then look what Caleb declared when he was 85 years old and asked to be given a difficult mountain full of giants: “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in” (Joshua 14:11). There were surely old people in Israel when they ate the Passover and fled Egypt, but God says, “There was not one feeble person among their tribes” (Psalm 105:37). God’s plan for you in old age is to bring forth fruit and flourish (Psalm 92:13-14).
Weakness Is for the Wicked
In Job 18:12-13, speaking specifically of the wicked, we see this: “His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side. It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.” YOU are not the wicked if you are in Christ, so having your strength devoured is NOT part of your inheritance in Christ!
Being Strong Is a Choice
God commanded Israel on many occasions to be strong and of good courage. Paul wrote to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might (Ephesians 6:10). A command implies a choice; you can choose to either be strong or not be strong. Of course, Paul didn’t say to be strong in yourself; he said to be strong in the Lord.
Job’s Weariness Came from the Devil
Job 7:3 and Job 16:7 show that Job was weary. Although he blamed God, Scripture is clear that Satan is the one who smote him with all his disagreeable conditions.
Dehydration
If you don’t drink enough water, you’ll become dehydrated and feel weak for physical reasons. There might not have been water for the smith below to drink, but we see that the result is being faint regardless of the cause of him drinking no water:
Isaiah 44:12:
The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
Summary
If you’re weak, start saying that you are strong and that God is your strength. Believe that God strengthens you. Believe that the Holy Spirit imparts life to your mortal body. Fellowship with God, thus exchanging your strength for His strength. Walk in God’s wisdom. Say that weakness is part of the curse of the Law and a punishment for sin. Say that you are redeemed from it. Believe the Scriptures in this section and act as if they’re so, because they are!