Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.
I was doing some reading this morning from the Amplified Bible and came across this verse. I absolutely love the way this version translates the text.
There was one part in particular that stood out to me. Right in the middle of the text it says...
I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties
The process of "hardening" is one that I have only recently become aware of.
My wife and I have a few raised flower beds at our home where we plant flowers, plants and a few vegetables. In Alaska there is such a drastic change in seasons between winter and summer that if you just go and buy any plant, especially too early in the season, and put it in the ground, there is a good chance that it will not survive. Why? Because it hasn't been "hardened" for the elements that it is going into.
Whenever we are buying early season plants we always ask if they have been hardened. And if the answer is yes, we know there is a good chance of survival.
In the same way, this verse says that God is "hardening" us for difficulties.
One of the beautiful things about hardening plants is that it is the responsibility of the gardener (God), not the plant (us). Our only role is to yield to the work of the Gardener and grow where He plants us, knowing that when the storms of life come, we can survive them because our Gardener has already prepared us for them.
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