Sometimes I feel weak

Sometimes I feel weak.

OK I feel weak most of the time.

This may sound like a bad thing but the truth is; this is a great place to be. As a: church planter/pastor, as a husband, as a father, as a friend, as a man of God, I constantly have to face my short comings. I must daily accept that I can't seem to live up to my expectations of myself. I am too selfish, too stubborn, too angry, too self-critical or too self-righteous to be the man I want to be (to be the man God wants me to be.)

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul, shares about his weakness. He talks about a thorn in his side that keeps him humble. He tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:8 that he prayed three times for God to remove this thorn. (I don't know about a thorn but I seem to be covered with a thorn bush. I also have prayed more times than I can count for God to remove these thorns.)

Paul goes one and tells us that God responded, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

In my weakness there is grace, in  my weakness there is power, in my weakness there is HOPE. It is in my weakness that I understand the depth of my sin. It is here that I see the great mercy of a perfect, holy God that chooses to love me, to save me, to sustain me. It is only through His love that I can find victory. 

Like Paul, I will boast in my weakness. Not because I am proud of my shortcomings but because it is in my shortcomings that I most clearly see God at work in my life. "For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10c


 

Needed rest

All too often I find myself struggling in this life. I find that I allow busyness, stress and frustration to overwhelm me. When this happens I start to close myself off from the world. Now don't get me wrong, I am not hiding away where I can't be seen. I start hiding in public. I am living life but I refuse to let anyone in. This may be one of the most destructive patterns in my life and if I am honest about it, I have been here a lot lately.

During times like this life gets harder, not easier. I get angry, or depressed, or cold and even when I don't mean to I become mean. I answer simple questions with harshness. It is at these times that I feel like the Psalmist who says, "My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest." (Psalm 22:2) 

In the midst of my struggles I am reminded of a powerful truth: the Gospel. The good news that tells me how an all-powerful, all-loving, and holy God loves a worm like me. Proverbs 25:25 says, "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." 

Sometimes I need good news. 

One day, while teaching, Jesus extended an invitation to people like me, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) This is good news! This is what I need. A God that will give me rest. A peace that is beyond circumstances. This rest is only found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory and praise forever!