If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
– Proverbs 24:10
Oh, there is so much here in this Proverb, especially when you think about the whole of Scripture, but even just specifically what it’s saying, just plain simple, meaning. “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small”.
Proverbs 24:10 teaches that adversity reveals the strength within us.
The reality is, in this fallen world, we all face adversity. We should not be surprised by adversity. And unfortunately, there are versions of Christianity, the gospel, and Bible teaching that leave people surprised when they face adversity. Teachings that lead people to think that if you trust God, things will go well for you in this world. If you trust God, you’ll have health, success, or favor in this way or that way in this world. This is not what the Bible promises. Specifically in the New Testament. In the New Covenant, Jesus tells us, “In this world, you will have tribulation”. You will experience trials.
2 Timothy 3:12, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. So, not just trials in general, which everybody experiences. You’ll experience more trials because you’re a follower of Jesus. So don’t be surprised by adversity and don’t faint in it.
Proverbs 24:10 shows the need for God’s power when our own strength fails.
Now, this is where it gets really interesting because Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small”. This is just true. Adversity exposes our weakness. This is where we always just need to tie every Scripture with all of Scripture.
The reality is, 2 Corinthians 12 comes to my mind. Paul in the middle of adversity says, “I ask God to take this away. And God said, ‘No, my strength is sufficient for you in your weakness'”. In other words, God says, “Yes, your strength is small and I will be your strength”.
And that’s the good news I have for every one of us today who is in Jesus. In a Philippians 4 kind of way, we can do all things through Christ… Through Jesus, who gives us strength. His grace, 2 Corinthians 12, will be sufficient in our weakness. He will uphold us. This is all over the Psalms. The Lord upholds all who are falling down, bowing down before him.
And so, especially if you are walking through adversity, hear God’s Word saying: one, don’t be surprised. In this fallen world, adversity is inevitable and all the more so as a follower of Jesus. So don’t be surprised and at the same time realize, yes, you are weak. Yes, your strength is small, but his strength is in you, and his strength is sufficient for you. I encourage you to receive that reality in your life in a fresh way today, especially if you’re walking through adversity. I pray that over you.
This verse invites us to trust God’s power in the middle of trials.
God, may every single person listen to this right now who’s walking through adversity, know that according to Philippians 4:13, they can do all things through Jesus, who gives them strength.
Jesus, we praise you as our strength. Just think about the Psalms. Blessed are you, oh Lord, our Rock. You’re our Stronghold, our Deliverer, our Fortress, our Rock, our Refuge in whom we find comfort, joy, wisdom, peace, and strength. You are all these things. We praise you as our strength, and we pray for your strength. God, I pray for your strength for everyone walking through adversity. And for all of us, whenever adversity comes. God, help us to realize it’s coming, or not be surprised when it’s here, and to look to you for the strength you promised to provide.
Philippians 4:19, you will supply all of our needs according to the glorious riches we have in Christ Jesus. We praise you, Jesus, for your infinite strength, your strength over sin, your strength over death, and your strength to endure whatever adversity comes our way. God, we pray you help us to encourage others today. Help us to speak strengthening words into others in this wearying world around us and other brothers and sisters in Christ. Help us to point those who are not in Christ to you today, Jesus, in a world of adversity.
Prayer for the Bhoi People
And God, we pray for the spread of your grace and your mercy in a world of adversity for the Bhoi people of India and Nepal. For 7 million of them, so few who have any knowledge of you at all. God, we pray for the Bhoi people of India and Nepal that they would be reached with the good news of the refuge and strength, the ever present help and trouble available to them in you through Jesus and his death on the cross for our sins and his resurrection from the grave, his victory, his authority over all things.
God, we pray that the Bhoi people would be reached with the good news of Jesus. Even as we pray, that you would help us to live today and every day in the strength that Jesus provides in a world full of adversity. We long for the day when adversity will be no more. We pray that you would help us to stand in these days of adversity until that day comes. In Jesus’ name, we pray all this according to your Word in Proverbs 24:10. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
