Categories: uncategorized
Date: 05 October 2004 20:02:34
How much of your journey through the hard times, so far in your young life, has been accomplished on the strength of your own resources?
How much of your faith so far, in the times of trial, has been your faith? Your strength? You are a gifted individual, and you're using those gifts and talents for God, I know. And I am NOT saying it's a bad thing to make it thru hard times or valleys of depression on our own strengths, or by being held up by our loved ones. This is why we have been given strengths and loved ones.
It's just that sometimes it takes a long time for us to suffer enough to be able to separate the power of God given us in our gifts and strengths, from the Power of God that is Him working in a vacuum within us, because we have no more to give.
How much has been you pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps? My bootstraps used to get a terrific workout every day -- and, glory to God, He gave me the boots, so I thank Him -- but there comes a time when the leather wears out.
That's when we have to fall down before God because there is, depressingly enough, realize-this-with-despair, just simply nothing left in us. Nothing left.
No more to give, not another ounce of determination, no more teeth to grit, only a broken jaw to clamp, nothing left to help anyone or even ourselves in any way. Not even strength to lift a hand or head as the Lord passes by, to beg for help. Nothing.
It's then that we know -- it's then that He proves, to us and Satan and whoever else is watching --
That we are His, and depend on Him alone for power.
Then it doesn't matter that we haven't even the strength to wave a feeble wave to get His attention, to whisper a broken cry for help. Then we find out He has had His eye on us all along. He's been crying about what we've had to go through, but He's been eagerly watching, waiting for that feeble glance from us when we have no more resources to call on but Him.
Maybe, just maybe, this is what you're heading into.
If so, the good news is, it seems to happen because we're being refined to get on with a new work or a holier hope or something like that.
It's hard. But it's worth it, very much worth it. Looking back, I think it's what happened to me before. Then all the garbage with our former church hit us. Do you think my dark valley could have been my boot camp for that fight?
God's for you, honey, no matter what.