WEAKNESS AND INABILITY TO COPE

 

 

It seems that each time I get into a situation that reveals my weakness and inability to cope, I impulsively conclude, “God cannot help with this one,” and I despair and fear the worst.

For example, we just bought a car. It was the first one I had owned in 40 years. Everything filled me with fear—the price, the reams of paperwork (I understood little of it), getting insurance and plates…I was overwhelmed and felt trapped by one more thing I now had to maintain but without a clue how.

Yes, we now need a car, but I didn’t even know how to identify our ownership papers from the piles of other papers. It felt that everything had fallen into my lap, and I wanted to run. I also felt ashamed that I couldn’t do what others delighted to do—to own a car.

How could my Lord possibly help me? At the time, I didn’t see how I had minimized His power and promises. It was only after I returned to His Words that my eyes began to open. An unstoppable coalition of three powerful armies was heading against Jerusalem. King Jehoshaphat knew that there was no way that they could stop them. They were looking into the face of their weaknesses and annihilation. Therefore, all the people assembled in the square of Jerusalem to pray for God’s deliverance from their hopeless situation. Could God possibly rescue them? It didn’t seem possible:

·       Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s…You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:13–17)

The Lord was with them! The three massive armies turned against each other, and they were annihilated:

·       The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:16–19)

Many are our afflictions and weaknesses, but our Lord gladly shows His love for His people by delivering us out of the claws of all our problems.

Paul had been mightily afflicted lest he become proud because of the many revelations he had been given. However, God revealed to Paul that He used his weaknesses to create His strengths within him. Paul got the point:

·       But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)

Paul understood that there was a purpose for all his suffering and weaknesses. Therefore, He rejoiced in them!

I think that this is something we can only learn as endure the refining fires of the Lord’s love and our own failures.

*******************************

 

Many will reject the message of this essay, since it contradicts the politically correct assumptions of “social justice,” which deny the traditional distinctions of “good and evil” and replaces them with the “oppressed and oppressors.” It also disdains the concept of “God’s people vs. those who reject God.” I would simply ask you to reconsider your assumptions in the light of reason and evidence.