Strengthen Your Frame Series

Lanier Christian Church

February 5, 2017 - Series: Revive! – Sermon #3 in Series

David Simpson

Strengthen Your Frame

Isaiah 58:11

The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

We are well underway in our REVIVE theme for this year. Last week Mac challenged us to grow in our prayer life. Two weeks ago we learned that God will satisfy your needs. Three weeks ago we kicked off REVIVE with the truth that “the Lord will guide you always.”

Today we go back to Isaiah 58:11 and learn that: “The Lord…will strengthen your frame.” (Say it)

A year and a half ago we set up early for our annual September Start Up event. This is the event that meets outside on our front parking lot each year. We set up about four tents that Saturday. Unfortunately, high winds came in later that day and bent and broke the frames of three of the tents. These tents were not strong enough to withstand the storms.

On Friday, I was installing a new bird feeder at our home. In order to get it high enough I decided to stand in a metal- framed patio chair. That was not a good idea. My “slightly large” frame began to buckle the legs of that chair and I immediately jumped out before breaking the chair and falling. That frame was not built to hold such a heavy load.

Frames are extremely important. A tent without the frame is just a canvass covering. A chair without a frame is just a mere cushion. A human body without a frame is unable to walk, run, sit, stand or move.

Isn’t it amazing how God created us? The human skeleton is the internal framework of the body. It is composed of 270 bones at birth – this total decreases to 206 bones by adulthood, after some bones have fused together. The bone mass in the skeleton reaches maximum density around age 30. So, if you’re over the age of 30 and feel like your bones…your frame… need strengthening…you’re right!

God created the human body. So what is God doing in our bodies from birth to adulthood? He is strengthening our frame! That’s why the bones decrease from 270 to 206. Fusing bones together to make us strong enough to handle life. Just as he wants our human bodies to be strong, He wants to strengthen the framework of our spiritual lives as well, the soul within us.

When your frame is weak, you are limited in what you can do. You can’t handle heavy weights and strong winds. When storms come, and you have a weak frame, you find that you are weak in places where you need to be strong.

We need to understand that God wants our frame to be filled with Him and His strength. Why? Because we aren’t called to walk in our strength, we’re called to walk in HIS.

If you feel like you are somewhat weak in your spiritual frame today, I have some good news for you! Isaiah says here that the Lord will restore your strength! He will strengthen your frame!

NKJV reads – “strengthen your bones”

NLT reads – “restoring your strength”

The Psalmist said: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Ps. 73:26)

When Isaiah refers to God strengthening our frame or restoring our strength – he is taking us beyond mere physical strength and endurance. He strengthens our frame in places where we need to be strong for Him.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening a strong character.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your faith.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your hope.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your prayer life.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your compassion.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your joy.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your patience.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your passion.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your wisdom.

He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your love.

Our human skeleton serves six major functions: support, movement, protection, production of blood cells, storage of minerals and endocrine regulation.

Without the skeleton framework, our lungs would collapse, our heart would be unprotected, our arms and legs would be unable to move, our spinal cord would be at risk, our brain would be exposed. Blood cells would not be produced and our insulin and blood sugars would be unregulated.

God wants to strengthen your frame. He wants to protect you. He wants to give you power to walk in His way. He wants to be your passion, your joy, your fuel for daily living. He wants to be wisdom for your decisions and strength for you every day! He wants to build in you a frame that can withstand any storm and handle the weight of any circumstance. HE wants to be your strength.