“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10)
What does it mean to “faint in the day of adversity”? To faint is to become so overwhelmed by something that we fall. We “lose” our head, our nerve, our cool, our will to go forward. In effect, we give up. Instead of receiving the strength we need from God to courageously stand where He wants us to stand, we declare we can’t “take it” any more. We then find our own way of escape and run.
God is not calling us to be strong in ourselves. He calls us to be strong in Him and in the power of His might. (Eph. 6:10) He wants His power to be perfected in our weakness. (2 Cor. 12:9) The smallness of our strength is revealed in fiery trials and deep waters. We want out of the fire because the pain is more than we can bear. We are tired of trying to stay afloat in our situation. We feel ourselves being sucked under the waves.
But man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. Can we believe that God has brought us to this point so He can become the Strength of our life? He brings every one of us to an end of ourselves so we can find a better beginning with Him. He brings us into what is impossible with men, to show us what is possible with Him.
Stop trying to be so strong. You can be weak, when you are relying on the Almighty God. It is only through Him that you shall do valiantly, and not faint, even in a day of adversity.