God's Strength in Me: 30 Positive Affirmations Using Bible Verses That Encourage

In a world where daily struggles can sometimes feel overwhelming, finding strength and solace in God’s Word offers a powerful source of encouragement. Today, I continue my journey of writing about the 30 Biblical affirmations from our small book filled with God’s truths. I am also sharing a free phone wallpaper that features this Christian affirmation for you to download. (inAWE’s collection of Christian phone wallpaper is ever expanding. You can access it here.)

30 Positive Affirmations Using Bible Verses

Each affirmation serves as a reminder of His presence and power in our lives. The second affirmation declares:

GOD'S STRENGTH IN ME IS ALWAYS GREATER THAN MY STRUGGLES.

This affirmation is based on this encouraging Bible verse:

As I reflect on this truth, I am reminded of a pivotal moment in my life that began on a day marked by national tragedy. Join me as I open my heart and share my story, demonstrating the profound impact of God’s strength in overcoming personal challenges.

Buckle up, because I’m about to get real. My goal is to always be transparent and honest when I write, and obviously I can’t write about my struggles without doing just that 😩

Transition from Corporate Life to Stay-at-Home Mom

My story starts with a somber reminder about September 11, 2001. It was a bad day for the world, a terrible day for the United States, and a devastating day for all who lost loved ones. I watched it unfold with some co-workers in a small office in the corporation where I worked. Like most, all I wanted to do that day was rush to daycare, pick up my young daughters and snuggle with them. But, like many others, I powered through the day albeit I wasn’t very productive.

That day began my journey from working in corporate America to being a stay-at-home mom. It was a slow process of working through so many things - my identity and our family’s budget💰 - being the most difficult to address. About a year later, I finally made the transition from working outside the home to being home with my children. All day, every day. 

The Burden of High Expectations and Perfectionism 

You would think this would have been a glorious change for me. You would be wrong. I struggled greatly. I was used to working with adults; you know, grown-ups who do what you ask them to do, when you ask them to do it. No whining, no backtalk - you get the picture. 

Instead I’m now “working” with two little girls - Jessica was 4 and Katey was 2. I put tremendous pressure on myself to rock this stay-at-home mom thing. I felt compelled to cook EVERYTHING from scratch and save as much money as I could in the process (our income was now almost ½ what it was before). 

The only good that came out of this obsession: My girls know how to save money at the grocery store. The youngest sat in the cart with a clipboard and list. The older one learned how to operate a calculator at a very young age.  The aforementioned list was also accompanied with all the local grocery ads so we could price match during checkout. 

I also obsessed about how clean the house should be, how we spent our time, etc. I’m assuming the grocery store example gives you an idea of the pressure and expectations I put on myself.

My Personal Struggle with Anger and Finding Humility

I have always struggled with being “quick to anger.” The only upside - I get over it quickly. But this is not the kind of struggle you need when you’re home all day with these expectations and two young children.

I never physically abused my daughters. But, I often lashed out at them verbally in my anger. I was ashamed of myself and mortified by my behavior. I read all the Christian books. I journaled during their naptime. I prayed and asked for forgiveness from God. I’d like to think that I shared this struggle with my oldest friend and “sheltering tree”, Donica; but I don’t recall that conversation. No matter what I tried, I continued to struggle.

One day in my anger (because the playroom was a disaster), I yelled and threw a baby doll across the room.  Here I was again with shame as my constant companion. Later that day while they were napping, I cried in the shower, asking God to help me. I was finally broken enough to truly surrender my sin to Him. Not just ask for His forgiveness.

Time and time again, He has taught me this truth:

And this day in the shower…He showed up. Because my spirit was open to hearing from His Spirit, this is what He said (not audibly, but still discernible). He revealed to me that I was struggling with my pride. In a corporate environment, I had influence and things got done. At home, I wanted the same thing. When I didn’t get it, I threw a temper tantrum. And the solution? Humility. 

How God’s Strength Helped Me Overcome Anger

In the shower that day, I decided to kneel down, look into my girls' eyes, and apologize for my behavior once they woke up from their nap. I resolved to keep doing this for as long as necessary. 

Because this is a true statement, it took only a few apologies to see a change. It made all the difference in my behavior within days.

Teaching My Daughters About Forgiveness

While it was not my intention, this process not only solved my anger problem, it taught my girls some important lessons:

1. When we do something we shouldn’t and hurt others, we apologize to them.
2. Even adults (moms and dads) make mistakes.
3. When people apologize, we accept their apology and forgive them.

I touched lightly on this here when I wrote about loving others well.

It continues to embarrass me when I tell this story because I still wrestle with the sin of pride. However, I am 100% sure there is another momma out there with the same issue, so I will continue to share how God had mercy on me and allowed His strength to help me overcome this struggle. 

The Power of Confession and Healing

Years later, I became involved in the Celebrate Recovery ministry. One of their principles is based on the first sentence in James 5:16: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

It hit me: confessing my sin to my young daughters healed me. Sharing this story in my blog and with other moms continues to heal me. 

Conclusion: Living Out God's Strength

The verse goes on: “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” This is what happened in my shower that day. I finally approached God with a truly earnest prayer asking for His help instead of just His forgiveness.  

Once I let go, surrendered my sin to God, and admitted my weakness, my prayer had great power and produced wonderful results. 

If you've read this far, thank you for allowing me to share this personal story with you. I would love for you to be a part of inAWE Handmade's community. You can join us here.