Weak part 3
Feeling weak is one of the worst feelings there is. Feeling like you need to do something... but can't. That's hard, man. And that's when we need to hold on even tighter to the One who is holding on to us. Because His strength is made perfect in our weakness. His strength is what empowers us to get through whatever it is we're going through. I use this verse a lot because it's one of my favorites, 1 Samuel 30:6, "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God." One of my absolute favorites. No matter what's coming against you--David's own people, in this case, that had chosen him as their leader... as soon as something went wrong they turned on him--you can always find a place of safety. When you look to the Lord, you find everything you need. And when you understand that He lives inside you... all you have to do is look inside yourself. Which is to say, you have what you need to be strong. Even--especially--when you're weak. You don't have to wreck yourself, if you first check yourself. If you let what's inside come out, by knowing and believing that it's in there. If you let love lead and guide you. Things won't always go your way. They won't always go the way you think they should. But that doesn't mean they aren't going the way they're supposed to. Another favorite: "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20). Even when people are persecuting you, or are against you, even then you don't have to take it personally. Because it doesn't matter how man means it. It matters how God means it. God trumps man. Let God be true and every man a liar. When we look at the bigger picture, the grand scheme of things, and we begin to see things from God's point of view, that's when we can get through whatever we are going through. This isn't forever. It won't even be like this for long. It came to pass, not to stay. A lot of the time, when you feel weak, the best thing to do is to just endure. Longsuffering is a fruit of the Spirit. Which doesn't mean we should accept any old thing. Turning the other cheek is about not retaliating, not about standing and letting someone continue to slap you over and over. God doesn't want us to suffer. He wants us to survive. And, really, to thrive! Which is why HE is our strength. He carries us through when we can't walk anymore. He fills us up when we feel empty inside. He gives us everything we need. In truth, He gave us everything we needed 2,000 years ago on the cross. Everything we will ever need. To get us through the hard times. To help us when we are weak. Because 2,000 years ago, on the cross, He gave us HIMSELF. His Spirit. His Son. His nature. His love. His life. He gave us everything He has and everything He is. He gave us everything WE have and everything WE are. As He is, so are we in this world. So when we are feeling weak, we don't have to curl up and die, so to speak. We can stand. We can let God--let LOVE--hold us up. We CAN get through whatever we have to go through. We don't have to go through things alone. And even when we don't have anybody physically by our side... we can strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We can let what's inside--what we have already been filled with--fill us up to overflowing so that it comes out. Naturally. So that the love inside--the strength inside--can come out. God's strength is made perfect in our weakness because when we can't... He can. And will. When we can't... that's when we have that faith like a child and just let our Daddy take care of things for us. When we are weak... He is strong. And in His strength... WE are strong! You can get through what you're going through when you let God carry you through it!