Finding the Strength (When You Don't Know How)

Have you ever felt weak in this healing process? Have you ever felt worn down, beat down, or unable to think about taking another step forward? Have you ever wondered how you could even get through the demands of one more day?

I ask these questions mostly rhetorically, because I know from experience that the answers are yes.

We get worn down in the withdrawal healing process!

Not only can extreme fatigue be a symptom of withdrawal (and one that lingered for me for a good while), but also a person can just get tired from the process.

Many times people will say that the first steps toward a goal are the most difficult, but as I’ve said before, in this process it is often the ones farther down the road that become harder. It is easy to get worn down emotionally and mentally the longer a person has been at it, and it can become difficult to remember the reasons we began the journey (valid, solid reasons) in the first place!

Also, it can become difficult to bring into focus the hope that we once saw at the “end of the tunnel.”

If you’ve been feeling worn down and tired lately, I’d like to first assure you that you aren’t alone with that. And I’d also like to use today’s message to help you find a little reservoir of strength within yourself, one that perhaps just needs a little encouragement and coaxing to rise to the surface.

If you’ve been feeling worn down lately, then I’d like to remind you that the strength of your heart (along with strength from the Lord) will ultimately be what carries you through to the finish line. And that “heart strength” is something that you’ve already demonstrated to yourself many times over by this point.

Your heart allowed you to begin or finish a taper in the first place, because you were feeling pulled in a new direction.

Your heart allowed you to survive a day (or many days) that felt unimaginably dark and disappointing, because you were determined that the difficult days would not define you or be the end of your journey.

Your heart has allowed you to keep moving forward despite difficulties—through personal stress, physical illness, interpersonal disagreements, professional issues, and whatever else—because you have “the heart of a lion.” One that won’t give up, one that knows your life, and this journey, are special.

When you feel as if you can’t take another step forward in healing or keep up with the family or work demands of one more day, please know that your heart, imbued with the supernatural strength of God, will pull you through.

Don’t ask, “How can my weak body keep up?” Don’t worry about how strong or weak your body feels. It will be weak and tired at times, no doubt.

But your heart will be strong.

And don’t ask, “How can my confused and tired mind ever help me to keep moving forward?” Your mind will feel downright broken sometimes. And scared.

But your heart will be strong.

Within your heart, within your spirit, there is a fire of strength that continues to burn brightly for you, even when the rest of you feels broken down.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul writes that “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.”

You have shown much self-discipline—determination—by having made it this far in your healing process, and the immense power and love of God will continue to fill your heart as you move forward, step by step, in this very valuable journey.

Again, if you’ve been feeling weak lately, please know that is normal. I was there, too. You will regain your strength and footing, little by little.

And also, please know that you have more strength inside you than you know, and that strength comes from a source that never runs out or tires out.

From my heart to yours, please know that you are making progress, and remember that you will be given what you need to move forward, one day at a time, one week at a time.

Until next time,

Michael