Inner Strength

FRI., NOV. 6, 1987, 6:27 AM
FARM, STUDY

Inner strength, in abundance, is evidence of spiritual development, even of spiritual maturity. And yet acknowledgement of the source is another criterion of maturity. This means that those who know and affirm that their inner strength comes from Me are more highly developed than those who feel that this is generated only from within self.

Interestingly, this maturity factor may not correlate directly with actual inner strength. In any given situation of crisis and stress the person who acknowledges Me (in any of My Godhead forms, of course) may not show as much inner strength as another who acknowledges Me little or not at all. Why is this? Because some are born into earth life with more potential inner strength due to development from prior spiritual experiences. Also I have created the human spirit so that it can develop from the experiences of life, and some environments, including some parents and home situations, help to develop inner strength and self-reliance, even without My active help.

As implied, inner strength is that which you call on in some time of crisis, when adaptation is truly necessary. Normal strengths and capacities to react are not sufficient. Even the help and presence of others is not sufficient. In such situations there always is the need for Me, and some with great inner strength still call on Me, and I may choose to help in some small or large way. Some without much inner strength call on Me fervently, and this can be a dilemma for Me. If I give too much help this may not encourage the development of this needed inner strength, but if I do not answer a prayer for help, the pleader may turn away from Me, and then further growth is slow, slow.

“To those who have shall more be given” is a cruel truth in relation to inner strength. When a person has strength, crisis situations are truly seen as means for more growth… are seen as challenges and opportunities. Just a little help from Me now and again can help to make an adaptation successful and development proceeds, often in significant leaps forward. But for those with little inner strength, particularly when they are in a human environment that does not encourage such, defeats come more often than triumphs, and these defeats erode rather than build inner strength. This is one of the great “unfairnesses” of spiritual life and, yes, I am ultimately responsible for it.

It is a great pleasure for Me to experience those times, however, when one with minimal inner strength is sorely tested and does emerge successful, even in her own eyes, and grows unexpectedly. Of course, even though I posed it as a dilemma for Me I am quite good at giving just the right amount of assistance in such a crisis situation. I never give up on creations of Mine, but those with little strength are difficult to help.

Your opportunity to battle a fire in the woods the other morning is an example worthy of comment. You saw the situation and were not afraid, even though you had not had such an experience before. There were decisions to be made, but, basically, the situation required active, hard, continuous work. (The blister on your hand was the symbolic evidence of that.) The fire was not beyond your capacities, so you prevailed. You didn’t have to call on Me. You just worked with the secure knowledge that I was with you. If you had been a later arrival so that your efforts would have been insufficient what would you have done? My best judgment is that you would have persisted as long as your regular strength lasted, with help from considerable inner strength. You would have gained, even if you had not been successful against the fire.