Strength to grow, endure, and overcome does not originate in us but flows from God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches; without Him we can do nothing, because God's Holy Spirit, like sap, flows from Him to us. Paul's strengths were not inherent but gifts. When he relied on his own mind he persecuted the church, and his sufficiency came from God, who made him sufficient as a minister of the new covenant. His statement "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" does not mean unlimited ability, but that Christ supplies whatever strength is needed for the work and circumstances God assigns, so that he could be content in abundance or want. Paul's beatings, shipwrecks, and persecutions show that God is equal to any task, and He will do the same for us. Israel likewise reached the Promised Land not by keeping the covenant in their own strength but through God's providence and forgiving grace, shown in manna, water from the rock, and the pillar of cloud and fire. God's strength rests on His faithfulness: He finishes what He begins, and He commands, "Be strong... for I am with you." Believers who are in the church because God called them can rely on Him to supply every need. Those who overcome Satan do so by the blood of the Lamb, which gives access to God and His empowering gifts. Our part is to yield to Him and to cultivate our relationship with Him through His Word, since everything flows from the Father through the Son to us.

God Himself is the source of all strength. The Hebrew word chayil, which names the "woman of valor" in Proverbs 31 and carries the sense of strength, force, influence, and worthiness, points back to Him. David declares in II Samuel 22:33 that "God is my strength and power," using that same word, so everything good that chayil represents comes from God. Habakkuk moves from frustration over chaotic circumstances to a settled grasp of God's sovereignty. Even when crops and flocks fail, he rejoices, "The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet," so the Lord is his chayil. Arriving at this conviction rests on the theme of the book, that the just shall live by faith. The same applies to those called to become the wife of Christ. God provides the strength of purpose and character for the one He is preparing for perfect harmony with Christ, and He freely gives the strength and time needed to meet the standard of the woman of valor. Yet the parable of the ten virgins warns that half of those called did not use what God gave, so each person must use His strength to make himself ready.

True strength comes from God alone, not from numbers, personal resources, or natural courage. Gideon was a fearful man cowering in a winepress, yet the Lord called him a mighty man of valor, speaking of what he would become, and promised, "Surely I will be with you." God's power is sufficient: He needs no large numbers to defeat an enemy, and one man with God in him will win. God then reduced Israel's army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred, so that Israel could not claim, "My own hand has saved me." The three hundred did not fight; they stood firm, held up their lights, and sounded their trumpets, and God turned the Midianites against one another. Weakness is overcome by faith, by trusting God and turning the fear of men into the fear of the Lord. Obeying in small things dissolves fear, so that strength grows step by step. Paul's charge to Timothy, "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus," is passive: the strength is supplied by Christ, not drawn from oneself. That also warns against looking elsewhere for help. Covenant faithfulness matters, since God gives His all but is under no obligation to rescue those who forsake Him. Haggai's and Paul's exhortations, "be strong... for I am with you" and "stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong," rest on the same assurance that God is with His people.