Strength in Weakness

God is so good.

I took a class called Soul Restoration last fall at Old Dominion Bible Church. The teacher/pastor who led the class, Bob Perdue, wrote a book called Ten Life Choices. He used it as a base curriculum for the group. Each week, we would read one chapter, which consisted of one life choice, and discuss it in small groups the following week. According to Bob, our ten life choices are: honesty, grace, forgiveness, truth, surrender, empowerment, community, worship, intimacy, and availability.

I say God is good because, well, a) He is good, and b) through this class and through my devotion He has "Empowered" me to be opened up to and thereby experience Grace and Surrender. There were a lot of great things that came out of this class and all of the ten life choices have their own story and meaning. Everyone in the class, without a doubt, found different meaning in each of those choices depending on what was going on in their own particular lives.

As I get older and devote more of my time and passion toward what God is doing, I begin to understand Him more. For me, the choice of Grace was an easier one. Who doesn't want Grace? Who doesn't allow themselves to openly receive something free, for no price, without questioning it? Grace is easier to learn, easier to accept, and easier to understand.

But Surrender...oh, Surrender my friends is a tough one. Grace is accepting something for a price that's already been paid and learning to understand something that's already there for your taking, but you just can't see. Surrender, well Surrender's a different story. Surrender is giving something up you also "already have," but learning to let it go and lay it down at His feet. And this, this comes with a cost.

The title of this note is called "Strength in Weakness" and, for me, through this class and through these last few months has been about Surrendering my Weaknesses. And when I refer to the "Strength" in Weakness, I'm referring to the Strength that comes out of Surrendering those Weaknesses. There are a lot of different meanings, as I said, in those words for different people. And uncovering those meanings in your life is a process and journey in and of itself.

But what God has made apparent, at least in my own life, is that being able to realize my Weaknesses and then Surrendering them to Him will ultimately bring me strength and make me stronger. I don't know why it took me so long to realize this simple yet profound truth, but it did. And now that I know it and can say it out loud, I am swallowed by it's profound magnitude and instantaneous result.

Pastor Steven Furtick from Elevation Church said something along the lines of, "We are living on an oil mine," in one of his sermons the other day. He's right. There is so much power in the realization of Truth it's unbelievable. Once we are able to step outside our comfort zone (which is so hard, I know) and Surrender ourselves to His Truth, then great and powerful and wonderful and mighty things can and will happen.

I say all this to you because over the past few months I have been experiencing God's revelation of Weaknesses in my life. I thought for the longest time that by praying and asking God to help me with this or that for me was being obedient enough and I didn't have to do any work on my end. But as He would have it, it wasn't enough. The Strength I experience today in recognizing my Weaknesses, admitting them freely and openly to Him, and learning to live out of that recognition is the only thing that sustains me and keeps any ounce of humility I ever had, in tact. I realized that God doesn't and won't do all of the work for us. That is not how He works. And even just writing this to you now is an eye opener. God will not grant us restoration, rescue, release, or freedom without Surrender and the realization that we cannot do it alone. This is such a simple concept, yet has so many facets.

It is often embarrassing, humiliating, and scary to openly admit our faults, Weaknesses, and trials, but the only person in the world who a) can help us, and b) whose opinion of us really matters anyway, is Christ. We are sitting on oil mines. We have the power at our fingertips. Some of just have dead batteries and need a recharge to the reality of what we already have and own, in Him. Suffering is not long-lasting, because it's already done. But, Surrender is. We can die daily, Surrender hourly, and time after time let go of something we have been holding onto because we are trying to do it ourselves. But God cannot help us with something we won't let go of or won't relinquish control over. He sees our weaknesses and faults and fears just as they are, but He just wants us to admit them, acknowledge them, and become aware of them so He can help us.

Be Empowered and choose Surrender. Then, allow the Grace of his mercy to flood you with Life.