“Stronger”

Music spoke to me once again this week. Sometimes it comes from places I least expect. A few nights ago I was on my spin bike, pumping away and listening to Pandora. Kelly Clarkson came on and I found myself working a little harder and feeling more confident in myself than I had in a while. The lyrics went like this:

“You didn’t think that I’d come back
I’d come back swinging
You try to break me, but you see

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone
What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter”

I love the power in these words and in this song. Obviously when you hear the rest of the song, she is talking about a breakup, the end of a relationship. But when I hear these words, I put a different spin on it.

My struggles could have kept me down but I didn’t let them. I DID come back swinging and I DIDN’T let it break me.

I came back STRONGER. Stronger in my faith, my beliefs and in knowing who I am and who I want to be.

I DO stand taller because God lifts me up.

When I felt ALONE in my fight, I really wasn’t because God would never leave me nor forsake me.

My footsteps ARE lighter because God carried me during those times when I could barely put one foot in front of the other and allowed me to restore my strength.

Don’t give up on whatever battle you are facing. The strength is in you. Let God carry you until you find it again.

He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound] – Isaiah 40:29