Weakness

by Susan Sampson

Calling any other weak moms…

I think one of the biggest things I am learning through this study is how truly weak I really am.  That wasn’t exactly what I was hoping to learn.  That wasn’t my goal when I started the study.  I wanted to learn to be a better mom.  A godly mom.  Could it be that weakness is the pathway to godliness?

I’ve been praying for quite some time now asking the Lord to deliver me from my pride, to give me a humble heart.  But really what I want is to be painlessly transformed in my sleep overnight into the perfect super mom and wife.  I don’t want the pain of seeing my sin and weakness.

Yet I thank the Lord for His lovingkindness, knowing exactly what I need.  I thank Him for how I am starting to see that I am completely weak.  Because before this I could manage in my own strength.  Not great, but pretty good. Good enough.  Now I am starting to see what is actually true for all of us.  We are utterly dependent on His grace every moment of every day.

There is no good deed I perform that is not tainted in some way by sin.  There is no good in me apart from Jesus Christ.  My flesh is all sin.  He alone is good.  He alone is righteous.  “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).  

Throughout this study at different times I have been tempted to despair in thinking, “I’m not good enough,” or, “I’m not a good enough mom,” or, “I’m not as good a mom as her.”  But I can see the wrong thinking here.  The lie.  This thought presumes there was some good in me to begin with.

There is an eternal difference between being a sinner and not being good enough.  A sinner has hope in Christ.  The latter’s hope is in self getting better and that is not the gospel.

“For if because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).

“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). 

We have all we need in Christ.  Because of Him, we have been declared righteous.  Declared holy.  Declared forgiven.  Declared free.  Adopted and made a co-heir with Christ.  Beloved.  Not just good enough — made perfect in the eyes of God by the precious blood of the King of kings!

In view of this free gift of righteousness, and abundance of grace, let us not grow weary in doing good and run the remainder of this study with endurance.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus who is both the Author of our faith and the Perfector of our faith.  May Christ alone be glorified in our weakness.

“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” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Rejoicing in His promise today, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Matthew. 12:20).

 

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Missing the Moment

by Dottie Ryan

I want to share with you a word a friend of mine spoke to me as I sat with her over tea this past week. It has really resonated with me as we talked about fear and how one of the reasons we live in fear could be us racing always ahead of God and ourselves. Looking for something that is not in this present moment. Missing the moment and the adventure of discovering God during the moment of our storms. Always being “out there somewhere.”  It’s a simple yet profound few words: “Thank Him and be content in the place in which He has me.  In doing that, He will give me more.”  I confess that I am probably not easily “satisfied in Him” because I am too busy “looking beyond” what He has and is giving me, thus missing Him in my rush to get “there” —  wherever   “there” is.

 

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Spiritual Stepping Stones and Reminders

by Dottie Ryan

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

In this past week’s lecture, Laurie led us through Three Spiritual Stepping Stones: Faith, Hope and Love as daily, and sometimes moment-by-moment, choices we make to deepen our relationship with our Lord.  In walking these out, we Fight the Good Fight of Faith regardless of our feelings, placing all our hope in the Lord because apart from Him we can do nothing.  Apart from Christ, we don’t have the ability to love — and we don’t have the faith or the hope we need to do what He has called us to do.  So we were encouraged to cry out, in total honesty, asking Him to help us truly believe His love for us and not only His ability to provide these gifts to us, but His willingness and His desire to do so.  He requires much of us as we are “Going up the Mountain” — but He also is the provider of the things He requires of us.

We were given some tools to help us along this walk:
  • KNOW Jesus and His Word
  • BELIEVE Jesus and His Word
  • FOLLOW Jesus and His Word
  • LIVE Jesus and His Word

Through putting these tools to use in our lives, we come to focus on Him and Him alone, and our desire moves from knowing about Him to knowing Him.

Laurie encouraged us to remember the great works God has done in each of our lives.  She asked us to write out three examples from our own life. When I came to this part of the study, my mind went blank.  So I paused to ask the Lord to bring to my remembrance those things I swore “I would never forget.”  I was reminded of all the Ebenezers* I had collected over my walk with the Lord — and that I had even made a brief list of those events in case (like the Israelites) I would come to the place in which I found myself unable to easily recall those major crossroads in my life. Lord have mercy.  You have been so good to me.

So in closing, I thought I would share a few with you. In doing this, I am glorify the Lord because they are His works.  I also hope that, like me, if you are unable to come up with your own, these might be used as a springboard to help you recall (if you are having difficulty in doing so) the great victories and mighty works He has done on your behalf.

  • 2002 – 2003  He called this “Prodigal” away from the WORLD and into relationship with Him
  • 2004   He broke the bondage that “Substance Abuse” had on my life
  • 2007   He revealed His LOVE for me in a way that only God can do (He claimed my heart as His)
  • 2008   He restored my financial savings that had been stolen from my bank account and spoke to my heart that He would always provide for me
  • 2009   He helped me break a 45-year addiction to nicotine (x-ray of my lungs show me as a person who never smoked)
  • 2011    He began restoration of seemingly-lost relationships in my life

He continues to love me, to sanctify me, and to “keep [me] from falling” (Jude 24, NIV).

These are just a few of the great and mighty works He has done on my behalf. In walking through the storms leading to these “marked” events,  KNOW-ing, BELIEVE-ing, FOLLOW-ing and LIVE-ing Jesus and His Word when my world seemed to be falling apart  — and seeing Him in them —  was as meaningful as the final outcome. So as Psalm 29:2 says, I “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name”! May you, if you’ve not already done so, begin a list of your own Reminders.

May we all discover more and more that God is God, and we are not.  No one can stay His hand. No one can be touched unless He allows it.  His is God and He is good all the time.  Hallelujah!

*  “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us'” (1 Sam. 7:12).

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