Let Your Strength Be the Strength of God Rather Than Your Strength.

   We look to the witness of the martyrs as impossible.  They were willing to die rather than literally offering just a pinch of incense or saying Caesar is king.  We think of them as men and women of great strength, and they are, but there strength did not come from themselves.  They relied on God’s strength, not their own.

   “[T]he weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” [1 Corinthians 1:25]  We know God is all-powerful and yet sometimes we think we need to be powerful in order to do great feats.  No, we need to use the power of God in order to do great feats.  Or rather, we need to be used by the power of God in order to do great feats.

   We cannot use God for our ends.  No, God allows us to participate in His power for His ends.  The martyrs did not die because of the strength they had within them.  They knew their weakness and let God be their strength.  They participated in His power for His ends.  Not that He wanted them to die, but that He was able to use them to save others.  “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” [Tertullian]  A greater ends than they could have accomplished by their own strength.

   Consider yourself weak, as you most assuredly are.  However, take on God and His strength as your strength.  Then, you will have a strength that no one can take from you, not even if they should persecute or kill you.  If you rely on your own strength, you most certainly will be greatly disappointed.

   All you martyrs in Heaven, help us to rely upon the strength of God rather than on our weakness. Help us to persevere in all difficulties for the love of God. Amen.