Inner Strength of the Soul

IT IS SAID THAT if you lift weights with consistency, your muscles will grow. I’m still waiting for my muscles to get the memo, but the principle seems sound! Muscles must endure some resistance to get stronger. It’s the weight, the strain, and the struggle that make muscles grow.

Physical strength is often judged by outward appearances. But there is another kind of strength—an inner strength—that is buried deep beneath the flesh, hidden from sight. This inner strength of the soul is harder to measure, but it’s this strength that enables us to pass through the storms of life and emerge happier, wiser, and brighter.

Viktor Frankl is thought to have said, “What is to give light must endure burning.” Whether it’s the burning of a muscle or a challenge, growth can come from the burning.

Of course, lifting weights without proper nutrition yields little growth. Similarly, experiencing life’s trials without the proper spiritual nourishment also yields little improvement. Like our physical bodies, our souls need consistent nourishment. Prayer, service, and keeping God’s commandments all combine to build inner strength of the soul.

We are not a body with a soul; rather, we are a soul with a body. 1 As a result, developing inner strength of the soul is of paramount importance. Often, unseen inner strength is manifested outwardly.

I know of a mother who, for nearly her entire adult life, was plagued by constant debilitating fatigue. Her days were filled with exhaustion, and her body longed for rest. But she had a family to raise, and she determined to rise early each morning to be fully present for her children as they left for school. Year after year, this simple, almost unnoticed act continued.

Today, she serves many people—quietly and still often unnoticed—but with incredible vigor. Miraculously, the years she spent building her inner strength produced unconquerable outer strength as well.

It’s in life’s challenges—the weight, the strain, and the struggle—that true inner strength is forged. May we, like this remarkable mother, discover that the quiet work of building inner strength has the power to transform us and to lift and inspire those around us.

References:1. See George MacDonald, Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood (1867), chapter 28.1