So, one of the words that Pastor Bev spoke about on Sunday was this strength shift, moving from human weakness to divine power. And one of the words that she kept saying that resonated with me was the exchange—how we have to exchange our weakness for God’s strength. At least that’s what I was hearing. Maybe you heard something different, but one of the words that she kept saying was the divine exchange, the divine exchange, and that resonated with me. The strongest impression I heard was about how we are to exchange our weakness for His strength.

And when you think about the exchange market, I don’t know much about it except what I hear on the news. We have the dollar market, we have the S&P, and people are exchanging commodities, U.S. currency for euros, and all kinds of things go on in the exchange market. But this exchange market I’m talking about is the one in heaven, where we are called to exchange our weakness for God’s strength.

The Word of God says He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. No one likes to feel weak, but at times it is difficult for us to see beyond our circumstances, and we become

When we hear verses like, “The joy of the Lord is my strength,” “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength,” our minds are renewed, our souls are encouraged, and we are shifted from despair to hope. And sometimes we wonder, how could I have forgotten those precious gems, those verses that are in the Word of God?

It’s something we know, that the Word of God calls us to hide God’s Word in our heart that we might not sin against Him. But sometimes, because we are hard-pressed on every side, God wants to remind us that we are not crushed. Sometimes we go through challenges, but we are called to exchange. And like the song says, one day at a time—yesterday, okay, maybe I didn’t exchange weakness for strength. Tomorrow I’m not promised, but guess what? Today is a new day. Today is a new day.

The Word of God says in Lamentations 3:22–24, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him.’”

The trading market is open. New mercies are given to each one of us today, not left over from yesterday, but new mercies are given to us today to face the challenges, one day at a time. The writer says, “Give me the strength for today,” because we are all going to face challenges today. Maybe they are the same as yesterday, but yesterday we may have failed, but today God wants you to know, “My grace is sufficient. My strength is made perfect in your weakness.”

Matthew 11, verses 28 to 30—here is another exchange. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

He wants us to exchange whatever we are going through and He will give us strength. He will renew our strength, because that’s who He is. He said, “Have you not known? Have you not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth? He neither faints nor is weary.”

God is not weary in giving each one of us strength for the task ahead of us or for the challenges we face today. The Word of God says His hands are not short to help us. As we cry out to Him for strength, He will give it to us, because it’s not His desire for us to be weak. That’s not who we are. We are strong. The Word of God says we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. So we have to enter that market. We have to do that exchange. It is open. The Word of God says, “Call upon Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.”

So let’s not hold on to whatever weakness is in the world. The enemy loves to beat us down, but let us not join him. Let us encourage ourselves. Let us tap into that strength that God gives us by going to the Word of God.

Let us exchange our words and choose the Word. Psalm 119, verse 29 says, “My soul melts from heaviness; strengthen me according to Your word.” Psalm 119, verse 25 says, “My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word.” And Psalm 119, verse 116 says, “Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live.” But God wants us to exchange whatever we’re going through and go to the Word of God. That is where you will find your strength, the exchange.

Exchange the word of the enemy, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, for the Word of God, which is living, which is sharp, which is our bread of life, our daily bread, and it will give us strength. Praise Him. When we praise God, we are exchanging our weakness for His strength. The Word of God says God inhabits the praise of His people. The psalmist says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.” The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy, and that can be found in Psalm 145. Praise Him for His mighty acts.

When I looked out at nature yesterday and saw the snow, yes, we had to do a lot of shoveling, but when you saw the snow on the trees, it was so beautiful. Even though there were no leaves on the trees, the snow was clinging to the branches, and it just declared the goodness of God. Nature itself testified that there is a God.

When we praise God, we get our strength, because we are shifting our minds from our weakness, from the challenges we are facing, from the circumstances we are in, and we are reminded that our God is great and mighty and strong. And as He did it for the psalmist, as He did it for others, He will do it for us.

And when we thank God, we thank God because He is increasing our strength. We thank God for increasing our strength because we have made the exchange. He said He gives power to the weak. That’s something He’s going to do. He gives, and He’s not going to take that gift. It’s up to us if we receive. He gives strength to the weak and to those who have no might.

If you don’t have any might, the Word of God increases your strength. Each one of us needs strength for every stage of our life, but God is the One who gives strength. So we have to thank Him that we will flourish no matter our circumstance.

I have to tell myself, in the challenges that I face each day, “God, I will flourish in this. I will grow. I will flourish like the palm tree.” I have to remind myself, “you are going to flourish in this. You are going to grow in this. Let this bring glory.” And you have to tell yourself that. “God, I want You to be glorified.”

Do I want to be out of this challenge? Yes, yes, yes. But God, at the end of the day, let Your will be done. Let not my will, but Your will be done, because the Word of God says to everything there is a season.

So God, I know that there is a season, that there is an end. This will not always be my portion. This should not always be your portion. But God is doing a work. He is preparing you. And wherever God is taking each one of us, He is preparing us, so we have to be ready. Pastor always says we have to pray for what we are preparing for. We have to prepare for what we are praying for.

So God is preparing you in this hard place where you feel weak. We can say like Paul, “His grace is sufficient.” God, I don’t want to do this. I want this thorn removed. I want to be out of this situation. But God, just like You did for Paul, You will do for me. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. You said You are no respecter of persons. So be encouraged.

And the greatest exchange has already been done. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He died. We were the ones who were supposed to be on that cross, but Jesus went to the cross for us. He died. The Word of God says in Isaiah 4 to 5:

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

And even in Corinthians we heard, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.” So God has already made the greatest exchange when He sent His only Son.

So the market is open today. Trade in your sorrows, your grief, whatever you and I are facing. The exchange market is open. God is there. The Holy Spirit, Jesus, the Trinity, the Godhead, are there willing to give us strength.

We have the same power that is in Jesus, the same power that raised Jesus, and that is the same power that reigns in you and me today. So be encouraged the exchange market is open.

Are you willing to trade in your weakness for God’s strength? Wait on Him. Be of good courage. Whatever the challenge, whatever challenge we are facing today, know that God is with us. This too shall pass. It is only for a moment. We will flourish in this. I will grow in this. God will be glorified in this. The exchange market is open—trading your weakness for God’s strength—for He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases their strength.

Amen.

So, Father, we thank You this week. We thank You, God, that early in the morning we can come into the exchange market. We can cast all of our cares upon You, knowing that You care about us. You are the One who bids us to come and cast all of our cares upon You, where we can receive mercy and find grace.

That’s an exchange, God. We’re going to receive mercy. You’re going to give us strength. You’re going to renew our strength. You’re going to cause us to mount up with wings like eagles. We will run, we will walk, and not faint, because we are not depending on ourselves, God—we are depending on You.

We are drawing from You, the One who never runs dry. You are the reservoir, God. You are the vine. Jesus, we are the branches, and we are drawing from You the same sap that runs through the branches. So we will bring forth fruit, even in this hard place we find ourselves today, God, because at the end we want to bring You glory and honor.

In Jesus’ name, I pray with thanksgiving. And we thank You for the exchange, that we cast our cares upon You, that You would meet the needs of Your people. In Jesus’ name, I pray, with thanksgiving.

Amen, amen, amen.