Weak part 4
One of my mom's favorite jokes goes like this, "What do you get when you work your fingers to the bone? Bony fingers!" And I kind of took that in a slightly different direction and use the example of banging your head against the wall and getting nothing but a headache. That, I think, happens all too often when we feel weak. We try to overcompensate. We know we can't do something, so we go over the top to try to "fix" the scenario by doing something else entirely. But, guys, I'm here to tell you... that doesn't work. Sometimes--a lot of the time, most of the time, maybe even all of the time--we need to just be still. Communicate with God by LISTENING to what HE has to say. We can--and should--cast our cares on Him, beacause He cares for us. But there comes a point where you can't hear what God is saying if all you're ever doing is complaining. If you're always focused entirely on the problem, you might miss out on the solution. If you're constantly banging your head against the wall... chances are you're not going to break the wall. You're probably going to break your head. You'll get frustrated. Beaten down. And you'll want to quit. In other words, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12). And, for the record, I want to say that the desire of our heart... is love. I don't believe the heart is interested in anything but love. How could it be? And that's really the central issue. Of life. Of everything. I believe we feel weak because we don't think we have what we need. In order to survive something, or in order to give something, or in order to be something. It's a place, or a feeling, of lack. Of not having enough, or not being enough. That's a hard place to be. A hopeless feeling. And the only thing--the ONLY thing--that can help us with that is NOT working harder. NOT banging our head against the wall. The only thing that will help us when we feel weak... is God's strength. And His strength... is His love. I say this a lot but I think it fits right here: God is all-powerful, right? Which means love is all-powerful. Because God is love. But all-powerful doesn't mean MOST powerful. It doesn't mean other things have power but love just barely wins the race. It means God--love--has, and is, ALL of the power! No weapon formed against us shall prosper. Nothing can drag us down when God--when love--is holding us up. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. That means when we feel like we have that lack, or when we feel like we are missing something... HE fills us up. And by "fills us up" I mean He has already filled us up. To overflowing. With everything we could ever need. The desire of our heart. It is a Tree of Life. It is the fruit of the Spirit. It is love. That's why we can do all things through God who has, and is, and will, strengthen us. That's why we can get through what we need to go through. And that's why we can be someone else's strength, even in our own weakness. Because when you give what you've got--the love of God--you are giving strength. You can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So it's ok to not be able to do something. It's ok to need help. Because we have a heavenly Father who loves us, and is always ready, willing, and able to help us!