God loves us when we are weak, but He delights in making us strong. His power shines most powerfully through our weakness. This is Day 14 of our 21 Days of Strength.  We’ve been exploring the various ways God strengthens us. We’ve seen that structure and order help us free ourselves from the things that rob our strength.  This enables us to follow hard after Christ.

Friends, God wants us to travel lean and light through this life. Light-hearted, that is.  He knows that getting rid of the internal baggage that weighs us down helps run our race of faith.  That’s why He provided a way to cleanse us of the overwhelming penalty of sin through Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection.

Even after we have received God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus, we sometimes find ourselves entangled in sin.  Let’s remember the challenge from Hebrews 12:1 to “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…”

Confession is one way we can declutter our soul and “throw off sin.”  We rid our soul of toxins that drain and weaken us by taking them to the cross. “If you confess your sins,” we’re reminded in 1 John 1:9,  He is faithful and just to not only “forgive our sins,” but also to “purify us from all unrighteousness.” We do the confessing, He does the forgiving. The purifying. If that seems too easy, just remember.  It cost God everything.

One area of my life that is mentally draining and sure to weaken my faith is worry.  Over the years, I’ve made a lot of progress in dealing with this unwelcome intruder into my mind.  But I have to be ruthless.  Worry is a robber and a thief.  It steals God’s peace.  Let’s face it.  Worry is exhausting.  A friend of mine developed this little acronym for W.O.R.R.Y:  Worry Only Robs Rest from You.  How true!

So I have to be alert, and when worry springs up, I confess it as sin.  I take my thoughts captive. Remind myself of God’s power.  Reflect on how He has worked in the past.  Fill myself with the promises in His Word.  When I do this, my hope soars in proportion to my lighter mental load. And I gain new strength.

What areas of your life cause to to grow weak and weary?  Rob your strength? How about confessing those to God and trusting Him to give you the strength to overcome.