I was struggling, and sleep eluded me. My mind was whirling with the scenario on repeat in my brain. My insides were in knots, and a heaviness sat on my chest. I felt misunderstood, hurt, and unloved. Sinful thoughts and desires rose up in my heart for self-glory and justification. I knew my thoughts and feelings were wrong, but it was a battle to let go. Then, 2 Corinthians came to mind, and I began preaching it to myself.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
Do you ever wonder, “What kind of God needs me to be weak before He can be powerful?”
When I asked the Lord this, He answered with an illustration.
It is like a strong man, He told me. Suppose you know you are the strongest man that exists. But every time you try to help someone, you get one of three responses;
1. Some people decide you are not real, that you are a myth and ignore you.
2. Others believe you exist, but when you try to help them, they say, “No, it’s okay. I can do it myself.”
3. Then there are others who believe in you, know you, and love you but still often say, “It’s okay, I want to try it my way.”
So, you stand there waiting, knowing you are the only one who can help. The only one capable of freeing them. It is only when they finally admit they can’t do it; they are too weak, that you can then step in and show your power.
God is the strong man. He is the only one who can break the chains of sin in our hearts. It is only when we humble ourselves and become as little children He can change and free us to be the women we long to be. We see even the apostles struggled with this in Luke 9:46-48 NIV.
I find it interesting that this passage follows right after Jesus tells His disciples about His upcoming betrayal and death. They didn’t understand the Lord’s plan, and it scared them. They didn’t believe He was strong enough to protect them no matter what happened. In that fear, they went into default mode and began fighting for their own glory for comfort and protection. They fell back into the belief that they were stronger and had a better plan. Maybe Jesus wasn’t all He said He was? Maybe He was holding out on them?
Sound familiar? Isn’t that what we secretly think when life doesn’t go as planned? When we feel scared and betrayed or under attack? Why would God allow this if He is so strong?
It is because we get in His way. We keep wrestling the reins away from Him, believing we know better how to satisfy our souls by fighting for our own glory. But He loves us too much to allow us to settle for anything less than His glory, which is our ultimate joy and rest. He demands ALL our devotion. He is jealous for our love because He knows that His love is the only thing that will fully quench our thirsty souls.
When hard things happen, it opens our eyes to how sinful our hearts are. It is a horrifying and crushing sight! But the Lord uses it for our good. Humbling ourselves again before Him and remembering He is the Most Powerful One, He can work in our hearts and free us from whatever chain has trapped us.
When He opens our eyes to our sin we feel broken, like a failure and unable to be used anymore by him. These feelings are not from the Lord. They are lies from the Enemy. The Lord wants us to be humble before Him but not belittled. He loves us and has a plan for us, for our good and His glory. After we have grieved and repented, He wants us to pick ourselves up off the floor and move forward in His strength. Because when we are weak, His power shines through our life and shows its perfection.
Sisters, if life is hard right now, if you are struggling with the why, run to the Strong One and ask Him. He is faithful to answer, teach you and be your strength. There is no one like Him!
I love what I read recently in Allen Arnold’s, Daily Thoughts on God and Creativity, post, Where You Drop the Needle. He shared a saying he heard or read somewhere that says;
everything will be ok
in the end.
if it’s not ok
it’s not the end.
Everything will be okay in the end, because of Christ. Everything will be okay in the end, because we are deeply loved, not alone, and never forsaken.
Be well!
Patricia