Growing up, my brother and I watched lots of cartoons together. One of my favorites was Popeye. Every animated show (and even the movies I watch as an adult) exhibit something special or different about the main character(s). Popeye was your run-of-the-mill sailor. He wore the proper clothing, had a tattoo on his arm of an anchor, and enjoyed sailing. But the thing about Popeye was this, he was normal until he ate a can of spinach. Though somewhat weak in his normal state, that can of spinach gave him extraordinary strength to fight his nemesis, Bluto. Bluto was a bully who was always attempting to take his girl, Olive Oil. Those two guys fought over her constantly. The difference between the two was Bluto’s cartoon likeness was 4-5 times larger than that of Popeye. Ordinarily, Popeye didn’t have a chance of overcoming him. But all it took was one can of spinach to give Popeye that extra boost of strength that supplied him the ability to win against his enemy. That spinach always gave him the upper hand. He could walk around confidently knowing, if he could get his hands on the source of his strength, he could overcome anything. It’s one thing to know your enemy, but’s it a totally different thing knowing how to fight and secure a win against him.
As humans, we may have a certain level of intelligence, be able to impress others with our physical abilities, or even walk around with more muscles than we know what to do with. But those things don’t necessarily make us strong. The enemy we fight is one who plays dirty. He’s a sneaky bully that takes joy in taunting us daily. He’s smart enough to look for our weaknesses and capitalize on them. If we’re going to fight him (and we will all fight the enemy sooner or later), we must know what is going to give us the strength to overcome him. For believers, the Bible tells us in multiple places where the source of our strength comes from. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Psalms 46:1 tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble.” There are many other scriptures, but the point is this—GOD IS OUR SOURCE! Recognizing such prevents us from having the carry the burden of securing the win on our own. When the time comes, we must be armed and ready to fight. But we must realize where the source of our strength is coming from. Spoiler alert: spinach won’t help you.
Closing remarks and encouragement: It doesn’t matter where we are in our fight or struggles. Whether preparing for battle, in the middle of an actual fight, or at the end and we almost have the victory. If we’re going to fight the enemy today (or ever, for that matter) it’s important we recognize where the source of our strength comes from. Attempting to do things in our own power will leave us stranded and needing to be rescued. Recognizing our source also prevents us from becoming too cocky in our own strength and abilities. Truth be told, we’re nothing to be afraid of. But the God in us……now THAT is something to be feared by the enemy. And in case we have forgotten, the enemy isn’t nearly as strong as he would like for us to think. He has his own set of weaknesses. But that information is for another blog. 🙂
Have a blessed week, my friends!!