6-22-20 Lord, Give Me Strength

Hi Friends,

     We wouldn’t be human if we did not have times of weakness. This came with The Downfall…BUT GOD! Because of His Love, we don’t have to stay in that weakness. Listen:

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Isa 40:29 NIV

     Is weakness a bad thing? Take a moment before you answer. As with much in this complex life of ours, the answer depends through whose eyes you view the question. The complete response would be yes AND no. Yes it is bad when we are not strong enough to say No to Pride, because that is what leads to sin and every problem we face in this fallen world. But no, our weaknesses are not bad when we choose to humbly admit to God we are weak and then lean on Him to strengthen us. Here’s an important point I want us to hold on to with this concept: if there was no good to come from anything, including our weaknesses, God would not have allowed it to happen. 

     Imagine for a moment that we never got weary, would we turn to God at all? While God did not originally create us humans to have weaknesses— after all we were created in His Image and He certainly has NO weakness— as I said above, The Downfall caused ALL sorts of short falls in our personalities. Pride stepped in and weaknesses came right along with it. God did not desire this, God did not create this, but God works with what we give Him. When we confess our weariness to our Lord, He works it together for our good because we are showing Him that we trust and love Him when we turn to Him in confession. Did you see that? When we come to God and admit we cannot live this life apart from Him, we are not telling Him something He does not already know. What we are really saying is that we are choosing to put our Faith in Him because we know He loves us and will work things together for good. Confession leads to strength. It unburdens us so we can receive whatever it is we need from our Holy Father to be able to endure or solve the problem our weaknesses are causing. I think you might have to read that again…please let’s take our time with this today because if we can really grasp this truth, it can change our lives.

     “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2Co 12:10 This is exactly what Paul is talking about here. Think of yourself as a cup. We can only hold so much before it comes spilling out from us. Think now of humility as going to God and emptying your cup of all the bad, negative, destructive things we either have in us or get from the world around us. The lies that our life doesn’t matter. The trials that we must go through. The ill-treatment we get from those who oppose our beliefs. The things that just don’t go smoothly throughout our day. And yes, our own immaturity that has its own set of weaknesses fueled by Pride. When we come to God and lay all that junk down at His feet, He fills our cup with all that is good and perfect, like we saw last week. Our weariness from the battles and our own brokenness lead to strength and power…IF…if we come to God and give it all to Him. It is a beautiful exchange: we lay down our garbage and God grants us all that is good. Beauty for ashes. The first Great Exchange is The Cross. We admit our sinfulness and Jesus gives us forgiveness and Salvation. Next time you are tempted to say, “Life is not fair,” please stop and think about this exchange. It certainly is not fair that our Christ had to endure all He did, in order for Him to be able to give us all He is.

     I am weary and weak! Lord, give me strength! My Friends, whatever it is you are holding on to in your heart that is not holy, won’t you come to the Lord and empty yourself out upon Him? He has already paid the price for all that anyway. Let it go and receive strength and power to live the Abundant Life He originally designed us to live…walking with Him in the cool of the day! This is what I long for, and by His Grace, I have tasted it often enough to urge you to seek it with all you’ve got. You won’t regret it, I never do, and life becomes more and more amazing every time! I pray you want that kind of life too, so…wont you join me?

     Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.

<>< Peace, Diane