What is it that we depend on? Who do we place our trust in?
A friend of ours, about the same age as me, has been struggling with drugs and destructive decisions. He has been up and down, one minute doing great and the next falling back into old habits. As we watch him spiral downward it is apparent that he is trying to fix the situation and control the outcomes in his own personal strength.
I have been guilty of the same heart. The control factor is one that I am well acquainted with. But it only ends in exhausting, failing results. There is definitely something to our choices, our ability to work hard and be disciplined. There is a difference in how people’s futures play out based upon their upbringing and opportunities. However, I’ve seen young people who have been given an incredible upbringing with Godly parents, lead a life of regret. On the flip-side I have seen young people who have been left to raise themselves, rise far above anyone’s expectations.
There is a missing piece to the puzzle. There is something that happens to us when we rely on God’s strength – when we let him do the impossible through us. I was reading in Joel chapter 3 where the Lord was calling his people back together to fight against the nations that brought them into captivity. There was a little nugget in this call. Verse 10b says,
Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”
I love that! Let the one who says, “I could never do that, I have nothing to offer, I am a nobody, I can’t, etc.,” say that because the Lord is with him and on his side that they are “strong, powerful, and able.”
You see everything changes when it is God’s strength that we are living in. In our own, we are guaranteed to fail but God specializes in taking those that are overlooked, left out, have failed, voted ‘least to succeed’ (which is all of us) and accomplish mighty things through them. The only prerequisite is that we completely surrender to Him and give Him control. If you are feeling weak today, fall into the arms of the Lord and let him make you strong!
