You Are Strong: Why Real Strength Begins with God

You Are Strong: Why Real Strength Begins with God

Many people misunderstand what strength really is.

We often think strength looks like confidence, experience, bold leadership, or public success. But the Bible — and the journey of calling — tells a very different story.

Strength does not begin with you.
It begins with God.

“God arms me with strength, and He makes my way perfect.” (Psalm 18:32)

This is not just poetic language. It is a theological truth.

God has placed a call on your life; He has already committed to strengthening you for it.

Strength Is Activated After You Step, Not Before

One common misunderstanding about the call is that we should feel strong if we are truly called, as though our confidence is evidence of our calling.

Scripture consistently demonstrates the opposite: strength comes with obedience, not before.

David did not become strong on the battlefield.
Moses did not feel strong before the burning bush.
Peter did not feel strong in the boat.

Strength is released when you move in response to God.

Why Questioning Is Part of Your Strength Training

Every person who follows their call will, at some stage, be questioned. Sometimes by others, always by themselves.

Not once, but periodically.

David experienced this several times:

• His own brother Eliab questioned his motives. Family loves to question, sometimes out of love and concern and sometimes out of a lack of understanding.
• King Saul questioned his abilities, looking through human eyes rather than through the guidance of God.
• Goliath mocked his identity, not understanding that the one true God forms our identity.

These voices remind us why our strength must come from above. External questioning leads to internal questioning, which can only be quietened by our identity in Him — as we grow into the person of the call.

Strength is not formed in ideal circumstances; it is shaped when we walk in divine alignment with His call, regardless of the circumstances.

It is built in resistance.

Strength Is Remaining Yourself Under Pressure

Saul tried to dress David in armour. From the outside it looked logical — better protection, better weapons, a more “professional” approach.

But David refused.

He knew something most believers take years to learn:

You cannot stand strong while trying to be someone else.

He returned to what God had shaped him with:

• His staff
• His sling
• His intimacy with God

Strength is not found in copying another’s identity, but in remaining faithful to the one God has given you.

Strength is alignment with identity.

The Battle Is Not External — It Is Internal

Once we have faced the external forces of doubt, we must also address the internal questions of fear.

Before the giant is ever faced externally, it speaks internally:

• “Am I really called?”
• “Is someone else better?”
• “Why would God use me?”

Strength gently answers the questions that challenge obedience. And that is why true strength can only come from understanding our identity. It is our identity in Him that brings strength — not our internal fortitude.

This is why your strength must come from God and not from your own courage.

Strength Does Not Come from Outcomes

This is an important truth to hold onto: we do not serve a transactional God.

Success does not prove your calling.
Failure does not cancel it.

Hebrews 11 honours people who saw miracles — and those who never did. They were commended not for their outcomes, but for their faithfulness.

A performance-based relationship with God eventually fails, not because God lets us down or we let Him down, but because His desire for us has never been performance, but intimacy — an intimacy that leads to fruitfulness.

Strength is obedience born out of willingness.

Why Your Wilderness Is Not a Delay — It’s a Design

David’s strength was formed long before the battlefield.

It was shaped when:

• No one applauded
• No one watched
• No one validated him

The stones, the sling, the songs, the lions, the bears — this was where his inner security was quietly built.

Your season in obscurity is not wasting time.
It is building identity.

You Are Strong Because God Is With You

This is not motivational language.
It is a spiritual reality.

You are strong because:

• God has called you
• God stands with you
• God strengthens you

You may feel weak — and still be strong.
You may feel uncertain — and still be strong.
You may feel afraid — and still be strong.

Because strength is more than a feeling.

Moment of Reflection

Consider:

• Where is God asking me to stand firm?
• Whose voices have I been listening to?
• What false armour do I need to remove?

You do not need to become strong.
You already are.
Because God is at work within you.

Because You are Strong

Ready to take the next step?
Discover more about living aligned with God’s call in It’s My Call by Dr Brendan Roach.

👉 Read more at: itsmycall.au