What makes you strong?

About a year ago, a young girl saked me, what makes you feel safe or strong? My asnwer was simple.

My faith has made me strong. I fear nothing or nobody. I'm not bragging like some loud mouth in a bar; it's true. You can mock a person's faith but until you experience it yourself you will remain weak. Here's an example from my life.

I served in combat for over a year. At one point, I was captured. I wore a cross the Chaplain gave me and my captors took it from me. They held it up to my face and taunted me. They dared me to take it and if I did, they beat me. If I didn't, they beat me and spit on my cross. They beat me some more if they caught me praying so I became defiant and prayed openly. They didn't like it when I prayed for them and said I forgave them. One day, three of them were transferring me and two others and they got careless. I have my cross and I'm alive to tell about it. Could you feel safe with your own blood running down your face while some lunatic holds an AK 47 to your head and screams a foreign language in a very angry tone? Not without faith. It can't be faked because one of the other captives wet himself because he was scared.

Now I'm old and crippled and my faith is stronger. It got me through malaria, cancer, gun shots, two helicopter crashes and two strokes. I may not look it to you, but I'm stronger now than I was then. I get stronger every day. Only the weak mock faith and the power it gives one. They mock what they can't understand. If you never read any other part of the Bible, read the 23rd Psalm. That makes me feel safe from day to day.