This morning’s word is The Strong Life Force.
The anchor verses are Philippians 4:6–7 and Luke 22:42.
Three years ago yesterday, Tina Turner died.
She left behind a quote that has been sitting with me this morning.
“Living a joyful life, I have found, is not about trying to avoid the unavoidable. Joy comes from summoning a strong life force to overcome problems.”
Read that again.
Joy does not come from avoiding the hard thing.
Joy comes from summoning the strength to walk through it.
That is not a self-help line. That is Gospel truth spoken by a woman who lived through more than most people could carry, and came out the other side singing.
It is also exactly what Jesus shows us in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The night before HE was crucified, Jesus knelt in the garden and prayed. HE was in real anguish. HE knew what was coming. The betrayal. The mockery. The cross.
And HE prayed, “Father, if YOU are willing, take this cup from me. Yet not my will, but YOURS be done.”
Jesus did not try to avoid the unavoidable.
HE asked. HE was honest about what HE wanted. HE did not pretend the suffering was not real. But then HE surrendered. Not my will. Yours.
That is the strong life force Tina Turner was talking about, even if she did not name it that way.
It is the same thing Paul writes to the church at Philippi.
“Do not be anxious about anything. In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to GOD. And the peace of GOD, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Notice what Paul does not say.
He does not say avoid the hard things.
He does not say pretend the worry is not there.
He says present it. Bring it. Pray it. With thanksgiving. And the peace will come.
The anxiety does not come from thinking about the future. The anxiety comes from trying to control it.
That is the difference.
Today is Memorial Day. A day where we remember the people who did not come home. The ones whose names are carved on stones in small-town cemeteries and on walls in big-city memorials. The ones whose families are still missing them this morning.
They did not avoid the unavoidable either.
They walked into it.
And the freedom we live in today is the freedom they paid for.
So here is the question for today.
What hard thing are you trying to avoid that GOD is calling you to walk through?
What worry are you trying to control that GOD is calling you to surrender?
What pain are you trying to manage that GOD is asking you to bring to HIM in prayer?
When Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus, knowing HE was about to raise HIM from the dead, HE still wept.
GOD does not dismiss your grief. GOD does not skip past your pain. GOD weeps with you. And then GOD raises.
The strong life force is not strength you summon on your own. It is the Spirit you have already received. The Spirit of adoption, not of fear. The Spirit that has already abolished death.
Today, remember the ones who did not come home. Honor them with silence at three o’clock if you can. Honor them with presence at the table tonight. Honor them by living the freedom they gave you.
And honor them by not wasting that freedom on the energy it takes to avoid what GOD is calling you to walk through.
Summon the strong life force.
The will is not yours. It is HIS.
The peace is not yours to manufacture. It is HIS to give.
And the presence that walks with you through what you would rather avoid is not a feeling you produce. It is the Spirit already in you.
I am not here to prove myself. I am here to make HIM visible.