Do you ever feel inadequate?
Like there are so many good things to pursue, and you are just overwhelmed by your inadequacy to accomplish one good thing?
So many times, I find myself crippled by the fact that I am growing in grace, and yet so far from some of the fullness God is offering to me.
Supposedly walking by grace, but desperately clinging to my own willpower.
Welcome to Kingdom living, beloved.
In our deepest core, we do fall short.
Our offerings become selfish, our pursuits become prideful, and our desires become Hell bent.
We are not capable of being Kingdom children on our own.
“But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” [1 Corinthians 15:57]
This life was never meant to be an Olympics of our own talent and excellence.
This earthly existence is a beautiful ballad of God taking the ugly and broken, and making it wonderful and worthy.
Your humble offering will always be enough.
Your hardest heart can still be used.
Your brokenness will always be reconciled.
“The Lord said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” [2 Corinthians 12:9]
Rejoice in the fact that you still need His strength!
Take joy in the truth that you will always need His shepherd staff to guide and correct you. To protect and to empower you.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made [Psalm 139:14], and He is so very aware of your tendencies and vices.
He does not use you in spite of them.
He uses those very weaknesses to show off His handiwork and bring you into glory.
Take heart and lift your head!
You are far less capable than you originally thought.
But He is deeply in love with you and HE is far more capable than you can imagine.
I find so much peace in this reminder.
I take a step back from trying to DO, and EARN, and PREFORM.
I reflect on my Savior: His beauty, His worthiness, His love.
I take child-like, stumbling steps into His presence and His word.
And I find a strength that is not of myself. I find a new heart that desires to give and serve. A heart that is less anxious about “getting it right.”
This beautiful ballad was never about me, anyway.
It was about HIM, and how He is reconciling all things to Himself.
May our lives be an example of that reconciliation, as He works out our brokenness, and draws us deeper into His love.
“I heard the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.
Jesus paid it all.
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain;
He washed it white as snow.”
- Hymn [1865]
Where do you find yourself feeling incapable or ill-equipped? What weaknesses are you fearing to face? Rest in the truth that God desires victory and joy for you in HIS strength! How would that look for you today if you truly believed it, and walked out in that strength?
Written By: Amy Hawkins Communications Team Member
