Desperate for Strength

"Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11 (NIV)

Let's begin here: believing we've got this is dangerously easy.

We wake up, sip our coffee, fire up our calendars, and step into meetings armed with knowledge, experience, and a mile-long task list. We move fast. Make decisions. Build things. Solve problems. From the outside, it can look like strength. But inside, many of us are running on fumes, overcompensating for an inner fragility we rarely admit out loud.

That's where today's scripture cuts through the noise like a scalpel:
"Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always."

This isn't a feel-good mantra. It's a radical reorientation for your soul, your leadership, and your legacy.

The Illusion of Control (and the Cost of Carrying It)

Most of us, especially in business, are taught to lead with self-sufficiency. We're told to "make it happen," to "dig deep," to "grind it out." Dependence? That's a weakness. Vulnerability? That's optional. We measure success by how much we can carry, not how wisely we delegate or how desperately we depend.

But here's the truth no one tells you in the boardroom:

We weren't built to carry the weight of the world.

And pretending otherwise leads to quiet burnout, relational strain, missed moments, and spiritual starvation.

"We need His strength… we just need Him" isn't churchy language. It's the most strategic move you can make in life and leadership.

You want to lead well? Live well? Finish well? Then stop trying to be the well.

The Ark, the Presence, and the Power Source

Let's zoom out to the 50,000-foot view. 1 Chronicles 16 drops us into a national moment of renewal. David has just brought the Ark of the Covenant, the visible symbol of God's presence, back to Jerusalem. This wasn't just an item of religious interest. It represented God's nearness, His authority, and His covenant with His people.

David's first response isn't a strategy. It's worship. It's vulnerability. It's public dependence. And right there, in the middle of his song, we hear the charge:
Seek the Lord. Seek His strength. Seek His face.
Always.

In David's leadership, we see the blueprint. He wasn't leaning on his own strength. He was drawing from the Source. Even when he was victorious, even when he was praised, even when the nation looked to him he looked to God. Every single time.

How often do we do the opposite?

Two Kinds of Seeking: His Strength vs. His Face

Now, let's examine it. This verse is brilliantly layered. It tells us to seek His strength and His face. These aren't duplicates; they're dimensions.

To seek His strength is to acknowledge what you lack. It's to say, "I'm tired. I'm unsure. I'm empty." It's time to stop pretending and start asking. It's what you do when the spreadsheet isn't adding up, when your team is falling apart, or when you're staring at the ceiling at 2:00 a.m., wondering what you're missing.

To seek His face, though, is something deeper.

It's not about what you need Him to do; it's about who He is. His face represents intimacy, relationship, and favor. It's the difference between emailing a CEO for a favor and sitting across from them at dinner, laughing, listening, and understanding. God doesn't just want to empower your mission; He wants to walk with you in it.

And here's the kicker: when you seek His face, you end up receiving His strength.

The Professional Application: Stop Hustling, Start Abiding

You may be thinking, "This is good spiritually, but how does this show up in business?"

Here's how: leaders who live from abiding, not striving, show up with clarity, creativity, and resilience. They're not frantic. They're focused. They're not driven by fear of failure. They're led by faith in God's sufficiency.

What if you started your quarter by seeking God's face before setting your OKRs?

What if you made hiring decisions based not just on skillsets, but after asking, "God, who have You appointed for this?"

What if you treated every email, client call, and keynote as sacred ground where God's strength could be felt in your voice?

You don't need to be louder to be more effective.
You need to be more rooted.

Just Like Air: The Non-Negotiable Nature of Presence

One line from the devotion hits like a lightning bolt:
"Just as we continually need air, we need the power and presence of God to sustain our every move."

Think about that.

You don't think about breathing until you can't. You don't notice the absence of oxygen until it's gone. And most people don't realize how spiritually suffocated they are until something breaks marriage, business, body, or faith.

But what if you could live like oxygen was always available?

You can.
That's what daily dependence looks like.

A Heart Check: What Are You Really Relying On?

Let's be honest for a moment.

When you feel strong and successful, do you still seek Him?
When you've got momentum, clients, recognition, do you still pause to pray?

Or have you built a life and business that only turns to God in crisis?

Here's the uncomfortable truth: self-sufficiency is often spiritual amnesia.

But Scripture gives us a better way. Seek. Continually. Always. This isn't about feeling guilty. It's about reclaiming your identity. You weren't created to be the hero. You were created to be the habitation, a place where God's presence dwells, strengthens, and flows.

The Ultimate Invitation: Come With Your Weakness

"Come to Him with your weakness and He will give you strength. Come to Him with your questions, your needs, and your wants, and He will give you Himself."

This is not just devotional language. It's the daily operating system.

We spend our lives chasing what we think we need: resources, clarity, opportunity. But God gives us something better: Himself. And in His presence is everything we're actually craving: peace, power, purpose.

That's not poetic. That's practical.

Your Move: From Insight to Integration

Don’t let this message pass like another good read if it stirred you. Take it personally. Let it provoke change.

Here's your challenge:

• Start your day tomorrow by seeking His face before your inbox, not for productivity, but for presence.
• Audit your strength sources. Where are you still relying on your own wisdom, talent, or grit instead of His guidance?
• Decide now that "desperate for Him" is not weakness but wisdom. Build rhythms that keep you anchored in daily prayer, scripture reflection, and even strategic silence throughout the week.
• Lead with humility. Show your team that dependence on God isn't soft, it's where real strength comes from.

You were never meant to do this alone. The moment you realize that isn't the moment of collapse; it's the beginning of a comeback.

So breathe. Seek. Abide. And walk into your day with the strength that never runs dry.

God is not waiting for your perfection. He’s inviting your dependence. And that… That changes everything.

A Prayer for the Weary, the Driven, and the Dependent

Father,

Today, I pause to admit what I often try to ignore: I can't do this alone.
Not in my personal life.
Not in my leadership.
Not in my business.

You know how easy it is for me to default to hustle and strategy, to put my head down and grind thinking it's all up to me. But you never asked me to carry that weight. You asked me to see your strength, your presence, your face.

So right now, I lay it all before You: the deadlines, the pressure, the decisions, the people counting on me. I need more than a quick fix or a to-do list. I need you. Help me trade my independence for intimacy, my control for connection, and my burnout for Your breath of life.

Teach me to lead from overflow, not emptiness.
To create from inspiration, not anxiety.
To serve from your strength, not my striving.

Remind me daily, hourly, if needed, that the best thing I can offer the world is a life anchored in You.

Thank you for meeting me here, not with judgment but joy. Not with shame, but with your steady hand. Lead me forward not just to do more, but to be with You more.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Stay here a little longer if you need to. Or walk into your next meeting with a quiet strength that isn't yours alone.