Our impotence or God’s power
Consider this passage from The Message:
Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.” But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. (Romans 4:19-25)
Do you focus on your own impotence, or God’s power and ability to use you?
Dave Black writes about God’s ability to use every person in an article called “Handicapped? Serve the Lord anyway!” So what is your excuse today?
Indeed, should we continue in worrying about our weaknesses, or rejoice in the strength of the grace of God? This is one of the top things I encourage myself in, and that I try to encourage others in. We “boast” in our weakness, as Paul says. Not meaning that we celebrate our weaknesses or use them as an excuse for ongoing impotence, but meaning that we rejoice that in our weakness, God’s power is made manifest!
The Christian life is not about us being “strong for God,” but its secret lies in our complete weakness and God’s sufficient grace. 🙂