LEARN DON’T BURN
Proverbs 24:10 NKJV
10 If you faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.
If you are puzzled by the title of this devotional, you can be sure of two things. One: this is more devotional clickbait from me. And two, there is a method to the madness.
This verse, at face value, seems offensive. A common phrase regarding offense is that a person burns with offense. Offense is a mixture of hurt and anger. So if someone gives up in difficult times, their strength is small. The NLT says, “If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.” The CSB version is a bit more polished, “if you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited.” But any way you cut it, the essence of the verse says if you don’t face up and handle problems, you are not strong. And that can be offensive.
Or you can learn from this proverb. Because the proverb does not say that if you faint in the difficult day, you are hopeless. It does not say that if you fail under pressure, you are a loser and you’ll never win. Or that you are destined for weakness. This proverb gives us a learning lesson that we can take and grow from. If the lack of strength was inherited or destined to be in our future, we could feel that things would never get better. But if the problem is a lack of strength, you can take heart. Lack of strength can be cured. Lack of intelligence is harder to fix. But we can gain strength. Strength is not a fixed asset. Strength is not like height. We can develop strength. So instead of burning with offense, we can learn and grow.
The big question is how does one gain strength? Spiritual strength is gained by spiritual ways. Start with reading scripture. Add some meditation and journaling of scripture to build it into your heart. Throw in a good-sized helping of prayer and worship. And add a heaping dose of practicing the Word, becoming a doer of what you read and hear. Oh, and make sure you get involved in church and serving the kingdom of God. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. This will cost you time and effort. But the gains in spiritual strength are more than worth it.
Let’s determine to faint less and get stronger in 2026!