Made Powerful Spiritually, Though Physically Weak

MANY are the examples found in the Scriptures of God’s servants who “from a weak state were made powerful.” (Heb. 11:34)a Judge Samson was one of these. (Judg. 16:4-31) He is of particular interest to Christians today, for in him we see a prophetic picture of God’s servants in modern times. During World War I they were robbed of their strength, as it were, but then God’s spirit revived them, and since then they have been doing far greater works than before.—Matt. 24:45-47.

Jehovah God has imparted power not only to his earthly organization since then but also individually to his servants. How? By means of his holy spirit or active force, even as we read: “‘Not by a military force, nor by power, but by my spirit,’ Jehovah of armies has said.”—Zech. 4:6.

How can Jehovah’s servants be filled with this strengthening holy spirit of God? By imbibing freely of his spirit-filled Word. They should endeavor to find time every day to take in some of this spiritual food. At the same time they should so arrange their affairs that, if at all possible, they will be able to meet regularly with fellow Christians to study the Bible with the help of the Watch Tower publications. There is also the need to meditate about the things they have learned, and important also is prayer, asking God for his spirit. (Luke 11:13) Not to be overlooked is applying in their lives what they learn, both by living in line with Christian principles and by preaching and teaching God’s Word to others as opportunity affords.

“Made powerful spiritually, though physically weak” might be said to apply with peculiar force to Christians of tender years, to the ill and to the aged. How true this is can be seen from some of the experiences these have had. Thus in St. Lucia, an island in the West Indies, a very religious seven-year-old boy, as a result of a Bible study conducted with him by his Witness grandmother, took a bold stand for God’s truth. Not only did he fearlessly witness to his schoolteacher but he firmly resisted all efforts of his relatives to have him take “first communion,” something that he had set his heart upon before he began to study the Bible with his grandmother.

Then, again, there was one of Jehovah’s witnesses who was an invalid. But that did not keep her from witnessing to her neighbor by phone and having this neighbor come over to have a Bible study at her bedside. She was able to continue this study until the neighbor lady had progressed to the point of dedication and baptism. Weak physically, but strong and fruitful spiritually, was she not?

The same might be said of the Witness who keeps active though he is ninety-two years of age. So much so that in one month he distributed 538 Watchtower and Awake! magazines, most of them by speaking to persons on the streets. Many more examples might be given from assembly reports and the Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Yes, to the extent that Jehovah’s servants are conscious of their spiritual need, to the extent they seek to be filled with God’s spirit, to that extent they can be spiritually strong, though physically weak.

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