You're a Whimp

Here's the bad news. You can't handle it.

You can't handle your circumstances.
You can't handle your sin.
You can't handle the challenges you face today or the challenges that lurk right around the corner.

At least not on your own.

But with God you can do all things through Him, and with Him.



Deep down, you've probably known this all along. You try and try to get your life all in order, like standing dominos up on their end in a long line. But just when things start to go really good, something tips the first domino and your false sense that you are in control topples. Likewise, many of  us that have tried to control your sin on your own but simply cannot. Despite your best efforts, you don't have the strength to stop sinning. And none of us have the strength to change the big stuff. We can't stop wars from raging, terror cells from forming, or disease from taking the lives of innocent children around the globe. If we look at the big picture, we're all pretty wimpy.

Jesus put it this way in John 15:5:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Apart from Him we can do ... nothing. He is the vine. We are just branches. When we try to live our life disconnected from Him, our wimpy ways are exposed and our ability to handle what life throws at us withers pretty quickly.

This is a truth I have to remind myself of often. I am guilty of trying to cram my way onto the throne of my own life daily. And when I get what I want-to be in charge, to call the shots-I am once again reminded that all of my strength comes from Him. Apart from Him, I am easily overwhelmed.

When I become bone weary from trying to run my own life, I find great comfort in the truth found in God's Word.

"The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him" (Ex. 15:2).

"If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!" (Job 9:19).

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect" (Ps. 18:32).

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped" (Ps. 28:7).

We may be wimpy, but God is not. He is strong enough to handle our circumstances. Mighty enough to stop our sin. Big enough to shoulder our worry, fear, doubt, and drama.

What is it about your life right now that exposes your weakness? Are you trying to handle it all on your own or depending on the vine to give you strength?


God bless,

Jenna

Following Christ even when we can't see...

"Look, I'm going to lead you someplace where you can't see what's in front of you." We're forced to feel our way along—not with our hands, but with our decisions. Moment by moment, we're brought to places where we must make definitive choices. We base those choices on God-given wisdom. Then we go for it.

All along, in the back of our minds there is the ever-present threat of failure. Our choices may lead us down a path we don't anticipate. Our choices may lead us to places that aren't glamorous or even particularly happy. For a season, we may be brought to a place where the loneliness and emptiness makes us say, "Why here, God?"

And in those moments, we're faced with the truth that just because those places are difficult doesn't mean that God led us there by accident. He led us there for a reason. The challenge is to discover that reason; and if the answer isn't available, we're to at least discover God's heart for our attitude in that situation.

I don't know why God sometimes chooses to lead us to places where we can't see, but I suppose part of the answer is in the question—He wants us there because we can't see. We are forced to feel, step by step, for what's next. And the act of sticking out our hands when by chance there might be a rattlesnake, that takes more than guts. It takes obedience. He wants to bring us to a place where we will obey Him out of trust and love.

There's significance in how He chose to strike Paul blind on the road to Damascus. Because blind people know that they can't see. It's not a matter of debate. Sometimes God has to strike us blind like Paul (or even more often put us in dark, unseeable places) before we stop debating. Sometimes we have to know, know, know, know that we are weak before we'll really believe it.

It's only when we've reached that point—whether we're stretching out our hands into shadows or if we've even grazed a snake's back—it's those times He promises to be strong for us. God doesn't seem to run often to save the strong. It's the cries of children like us, the kids who are scared out of our minds yet believe He is—He comes running for us. Arms wide open, ready to take us that next step into His kingdom. Making us more like Him.