Swedish hymnist Lina Sandell Berg served with her father in an evangelistic ministry. As they were traveling by ship, he accidentally fell overboard and drowned. In need of the comfort that only God can supply, she wrote the following words that are still sung by Christians around the world:

Day by day
And with each passing moment, Strength I find
To meet my trials here;
Trusting in
My Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause
For worry or for fear.

Secular counselors advise us to draw strength from our own inner resources. But that’s hopelessly unrealistic. The simple fact is that in and of ourselves we don’t have what it takes to deal with all of life’s pressures and problems. Even the strongest among us have weaknesses. We’re susceptible to vacillating moods, sinful temptations, and enslaving habits.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, the apostle Paul referred to a weakness he called a “thorn in the flesh.” But he didn’t tough it out on his own. He prayed for deliverance, but instead he was strengthened by the Lord so that he could endure his overwhelming difficulties.

In times of conflict and defeat, we are forced to confess that we need a source of strength beyond ourselves. And we can rejoice that there’s an always-available source on which we can draw—the inexhaustible grace of God.

  — Vernon C. Grounds