Everlasting strength is a term the prophet Isaiah uses in Isaiah 26:4. The word everlasting means forever, eternal, something that never ends. It’s hard for us to imagine anything that is eternal. We know that God is eternal. He always has been and He always will be. But for us, everything we have ever known has an end. Yet, the prophet reminds us that in God we can have everlasting strength.
Isaiah 26:4 “Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:”
Since our idea of strength is commonly thought of as physical strength it is hard for us to pair these two words together. We know that as we get older our bodies begin to weaken. We no longer have the ability to sustain our strength as we did in our youthful days. All that we have ever known about strength has its limits. So, what is the prophet trying to get us to understand in this verse? How can we have everlasting strength in this frail failing body?
To understand how we can have everlasting strength we must follow the commands previously in the verse. We must do our part to have this unending strength, just as if we were physically training. We would need to exercise our muscles because no one could do that for us. We must start by completely trusting in God. The first part of the verse says our trust must be forever. Our confidence in God cannot fail. We cannot allow temporary things to cause our confidence to fail. We can only do this as we build our relationship with Him. By understanding His attributes and character we can truly trust that all He does is in our best interest. There are things in this life we will never understand but we must trust in the Jehovah God. “Jehovah” means eternal existence: He was, He is, and always will be. Therefore, we can place our confidence in Him. No trial, persecution, earthly calamity, or sickness can change our confidence in Him. However, the only way this is possible is by keeping our minds on Him. What a perfect God we serve that would allow us to stay connected with Him at all times, no matter where we go, He is there. When we give our lives to Him, He comes to dwell within us. He is always accessible. We don’t have to get in line or wait for our turn. There’s no distance to travel to see Him, and no dropping our calls like modern technology. When we surrender our lives to Him, our relationship builds into a circle. The more we know Him, the more we love Him, the more we love Him, the more we trust Him, and when we completely trust Him, He will always be in our thoughts, and this will allow perfect peace. We can have everlasting strength because we are living the process.
Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
