How about nuclear strength for the 40-watt moments in your life?
Grab this life saver for extra strength whenever needed.
Strength for pain
Recently, I stumbled across nine words a woman used to survive a mastectomy without anesthesia.
Lucy Thurston was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1855.
Since she struggled with an earlier bout of paralysis, the doctor performed surgery without chloroform.
Lucy survived and lived another twenty years.
Her letter to her daughter details the night before the terrifying procedure.
“That night I spent in the house alone for the first time. The family had all retired for the night. In the still hour of darkness, I long walked back and forth in the capacious door-yard. Depraved, diseased, helpless, I yielded myself up entirely to the will, the wisdom, and the strength of the Holy One. At peace with myself, with earth, and with heaven, I calmly laid my head upon my pillow and slept refreshingly. A bright day opened upon us. My feelings were natural, cheerful, elevated. I took the Lord at his own word: ‘As the day is, so shall thy strength be.‘ There with an unwavering heart, I leaned for strength and support.” Lucy Thurston in Letters of Note/Shaun Usher
God stabilized her spirit the night before the two hour surgery with only nine words.
“As the day is, so shall thy strength be.”
The verse she quoted from is Deuteronomy 33:25.
“The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.” NIV
I like the King James Version. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.”
The same God who directs the laws of physics gives strength equal to our days.
- Any day
- Every day
I call this extra strength.
And this short verse is an extra strength promise for your worst moments.
Strength for crises
The President who dedicated the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor needed extra strength.
Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President presided over extreme chaos.
- National financial panic
- Civil and labor riots
- Life threatening cancer
Yet, his energy was boundless often working past midnight.
Framed and hung right above his bed was the same verse Lucy Thurston clung to.
“As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” KJV
The President framed and hung it in his law office and above his bed.
“If I have any coat of arms and emblem, it is that.” William Osborn Stoddard, Grover Cleveland, (Frederick A. Stocks & Brother, 1888), 213.
All of his life, he kept this verse in view.
The Amplified Bible translates, “As your days are, so will your strength, your rest and security be.”
Strength for today
When my pain from neuropathy was maddening, I lived by this verse.
“Your strength will equal your days.” NIV
Relief came when I remembered that strength is in God.
Strength is meditation, not medication.
Your worst crisis only lives in a day.
Who knows how God will lead, advise and heal in the days ahead?