When Strength Isn’t Enough

Dear Readers,

I’ve been thinking a lot about strength lately. It came up while helping my daughter prepare for a retreat talk, and it got me reflecting on my own life. Strength and endurance are connected, but they are not the same thing.

Strength shows up in a moment. It’s the courage you find when life hits fast, a tough conversation, a decision you’ve been avoiding, or just keeping it together when everything feels overwhelming. Strength helps you stand.

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13 KJV). I lean on that verse when I need help right then, not tomorrow or next week, but in that very moment. That is what strength looks like.

Endurance is different. Endurance is what carries you when the moment doesn’t end. It is not strength stretched out longer. Endurance is continuing when the problem stays heavy, when the answer hasn’t come, or when life just keeps going. Endurance is pressing forward even when you are tired, discouraged, or invisible.

Strength helps you stand in the moment. Endurance helps you keep moving when life stays heavy.

Paul talks about this in Philippians when he says, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14 KJV). Pressing is not a burst of power.

Pressing is choosing to keep going when quitting would be easier. That is endurance.

That difference matters. Strength can feel powerful and visible. People notice it. Endurance is quiet, often unseen, but it carries you through the long haul.

I’ve seen it in my own life, and probably in yours too. Being a mom, showing up at work, leading a team, staying committed to friendships, marriage, or even personal goals, sometimes just surviving the day feels like strength. But endurance is what carries you through the months when life doesn’t let up. It is getting back up after a long day even when yesterday drained you. It is showing up again and again, even when no one notices.

Endurance is continuing when the problem stays heavy, when the answer hasn’t come, or when life just keeps going.

Strength and endurance work together, but they are not the same. Strength helps you stand in the moment. Endurance helps you keep moving when life stays heavy.

What gives me hope is knowing that endurance is not about pushing alone. God does not start a work in us and leave us to struggle by ourselves. Even when strength feels gone, endurance is often Him quietly carrying us (Philippians 1:6 KJV).

If you feel worn down, that does not mean you are failing. You may be practicing endurance right now, pressing toward the mark without even realizing it. That daily, unseen choice to keep going is where faith grows, character builds, and life changes.

For me, the aha moment is remembering that I do not have to be strong all the time. Endurance is not about never being tired. It is about showing up anyway, trusting God, and taking one more step. That is what really matters.

Strength matters. Endurance matters. Both come from the same faithful God. Sometimes endurance will be the thing that carries us the rest of the way.

Standing in strength and moving with endurance,

Just Catrina