"Blessed are those who find strength in you. Their hearts are on the road that leads to you. Their strength grows as they go along until each one of them appears in front of God in Zion."
"But that's not all. We also brag when we are suffering. We know that suffering creates endurance, endurance creates character, and character creates confidence." (Psalm 84:5&7, Romans 5:3-4.)
To be able to "go from strength to strength" the Christian must be conscious of the fact that his source of help is in God. Now we surely know that as a general truth, but our faith must be re-activated daily in order to accept, to hand over, to wait and to receive.
Our life brings both visible and hidden troubles and suffering with it. How do we react to such trials? We shall not overcome them if we act as if they were nothing, nor if we rebel by asking the tormenting question, "why?" Faith enables us to accept them. Let us submit to God, who permitted the trial and knows its end.
But faith doesn't leave things at that. It knows what must be done with the burden that is too heavy to bear: hand it over to our God and Father. Let us tell Him all that goes beyond our strength, and the peace of God will fill our hearts.
Then we can faithfully await God's answer, trusting His love and power. That trust will produce perseverance, experience and hope in us, these precious virtues that honour our Lord.
Finally we shall receive God's response at the right moment. It may be a different answer from what we had expected, but it will surely be a better one, for it will contribute to our spiritual growth. It will be a spur to continue on the pathway of faith.