“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27

While hiking once in the White Mountain Wilderness in New Mexico, I noticed a large tree leaning greatly to one side. You’d think it would fall over. But it had withstood pressure from the elements and was still thriving and bearing fruit. This was possible because it had deep roots and a tensile strength that was enough to withstand the strain.

“Tensile strength” has to do with the maximum load a material can support without fracture while being stretched. As believers, the Holy Spirit enables us to grow in a tensile-like strength, not of our own power, but of His. The world’s wisdom tells us to rise up through our own means to take charge of our life. It tells us to look within ourselves to be strong. But our human tensile strength will not hold up when the crushing burdens of life are too great.

As we abide in Christ and His Word, we bear spiritual fruit. When we give our weaknesses to Him and rise up in His strength, we find we are held fast even though the stresses and trials of this life weigh heavily on us.

Insight: “The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.” (Elisabeth Elliot, 1995)