At times of despair…..
At times of despair…..
2 Cor 1:8-9 8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
Have you ever tried to solve your own problems?
There are times when the Lord will bring us to the end of ourselves from time to time. To the point where we think we are unable to endure any more. That we will just not make it through this one. For some, they even despair of their own lives.
God will sometimes allow this in our lives in order that will we will have no choice whatsoever but to go to Him and to have to put all our hope in Him.
To show us that in Him we can find all the strength we need in Him when we need it.
Jacob was such a man. Throughout his life from the moment he was born he was operating on ‘Jacob mode’. He, by cunning and acumen, was going to make it on his own. Until the day he heard his brother Esau was coming for him with 400-armed men.
Jacob that night wrestled with God and God changed his name in that struggle from Jacob to Israel. From “Heel Catcher” to “Governed by God”. But through the struggle God touched Jacob’s thigh leaving him with a permanent limp. It was as though God had said, “With every step you take from now on, you will be reminded that you – who once walked so proudly, who once stood so confidently – came to the end of yourself and now realise that in your brokenness and weakness, in those times of utter despair, you will be stronger now because you have learned to place all your trust in Me!”
It’s a great day when a man or a woman finally comes to the end of his or herself.
For then the realisation of not needing another seminar, or call another counsellor, or to enrol in another program now. But instead to now have learnt to come to the Lord, first and not last!
To come to a place where you rest in God’s strength and His protection!
2Co 12:9……. My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me