"SEARCH FOR JEHOVAH AND HIS STRENGTH"

"Giving to the Tired One Power

Further, Jehovah gives power to his servants when they carry out their ministry. We read in Isaiah's prophecy: ,"He is giving to the tired one power; and to the one without dynamic energy he makes full might abound . . . . Those who are hoping in Jehovah will regain power. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not tire out." (Isaiah 40:29-31) The apostle Paul personally received power to perform his ministry. As a result, his ministry was effective. To Christians in Thessalonica, he wrote: "The good news we preach did not turn up among you with speech alone but also with power and with holy spirit." (1 Thessalonians 1:5) His preaching and teaching had the power to work great changes in the lives of those who listened to him.

When confronted by an indifferent spirit in our territory-a territory in which we may have preached repeatedly for years with little response-we may become disheartened. Jeremiah similarly felt discouraged by the opposition, ridicule and apathy he met up with. "I am not going to make mention of [God], and I shall speak no more in his name," he told himself. But he could not keep quiet. His message "proved to be like a burning fire shut up in [his] bones." (Jeremiah 20:9) What gave him renewed power in the face of so much adversity? "Jehovah was with me like a terrible mighty one," Jeremiah said: (Jeremiah 20:11) Jeremiah's appreciation of the vital importance of his message and of his God-given assignment made him responsive to Jehovah's encouragement.

Next time: The Power to Hurt and the Power to Heal

Watchtower, 2000