New Strength for a New Season
Tired of running on fumes? Start here.
As we wind down 2025, I’m excited for the new year... not because the clock turns and something mystical happens, but because moments like this force a simple question most of us avoid until we can’t.
Where have I been running on my own strength?
I don’t know about you, but I can feel it in a few places. The places where I’ve started to feel weary... and if I’m honest... the places where I’ve tried to muscle through in my own power, hoping discipline alone would carry me.
That “push harder” mode works for a while. Until it doesn’t and things start falling apart. And the scariest part is you can still look productive while you’re quietly running on fumes.
The Moment You Realize You’re Empty
Here’s what I’ve learned about weariness. It rarely shows up as one dramatic collapse. It shows up as smaller fractures that start to tell their own story.
Shorter patience. Thinner joy. A body that’s present but a mind that’s not. You start calling everything “fine,” but deep down you know you’re not fine... you’re just functioning.
And functioning can become its own form of denial.
We get good at carrying responsibility. We get good at showing up. We get good at holding it together for everyone else. But if we’re not careful, that competence becomes a substitute for dependence, and we end up treating strength like something we manufacture instead of something we receive.
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The Reframe That Changes the Year
The beautiful thing about “new strength” is that it’s not a personality trick. It’s not hype. It’s not hustle with a Bible verse attached to it… it’s replacement.
God doesn’t merely cheer you on while you drain your tank. He offers what you don’t have... and He does it in a way that doesn’t inflate your ego, it steadies your soul.
“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31, NIV)
That verse isn’t saying you’ll never get tired. It’s saying your life doesn’t have to be powered only by you.
Where Strength Actually Comes From
There’s a reason Isaiah ties renewed strength to hope in the Lord. Hope isn’t wishful thinking. Hope is a decision about what you’re leaning on.
Some of us are exhausted because we’ve been leaning on ourselves in places that were never meant to be carried alone... the pressure to provide, the pressure to fix, the pressure to be steady for everyone, the pressure to be needed, the pressure to never drop the ball.
And God, in His kindness, will often let you feel the limits of your own strength, not to shame you, but to invite you back to the only Source that doesn’t run out.
A Simple New Strength Reset
If you want something practical, start here. Not big resolutions. Not a full life overhaul. Just a reset you can do today.
1) Name the weary place
One sentence. No drama. No denial.
“Here’s where I’m tired.”
Be specific. Vague prayers rarely produce clear direction.
2) Replace striving with trust
Not passive. Not lazy. Not pretending you don’t have responsibilities.
Just honest surrender: “God, I need Your strength here.”
Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is stop performing and start praying.
3) Take the next right step
Not the whole year... the next step.
One conversation you’ve been avoiding.
One boundary you’ve been postponing.
One plan you need to write down.
One decision you need to make with wisdom, not panic.
This is how new seasons actually begin... not with hype, but with one faithful step at a time.
Let’s GO!
As 2026 begins, I’m not aiming for louder. I’m aiming for stronger with the kind of strength that doesn’t come from white-knuckling life, but from being renewed at the Source. If you’ve been running on fumes, start here. Name it. Bring it to God. Take the next right step.
New strength is real. And it’s available.
Very insightful post.