Earlier this week I was reading the devotional God Calling by A.J. Russell. On January 27th, it said “It is to the drowning man the Rescuer comes. To the brave swimmer who can fare well alone He comes not.” I understood this analogy so well because I myself am not a great swimmer and I could almost hear the desperate calls for help of someone who is drowning. In a moment, the Bible verses when I am weak, then I am strong or God’s power is made perfect in my weakness, came to me. Suddenly I saw those verses in a whole new light and a different perspective. I think I always thought of it in terms of things I struggle to do on my own, like swimming. However, what hit me in that moment was the concept that it’s not just about God’s strength and power shown through my weaknesses; it is about accepting the desperate need of my human condition and admitting that I can’t but God can. Only then am I willing to call out to Him and ask for rescuing. 

I think I often choose to do things I am good at and avoid things that I am not. I admittedly like the safe zone where I feel comfortable with all the things I do and yet, I know it is good for me to do new things that challenge me physically, mentally and spiritually. I find it is my strong independence that believes I can do it well enough alone. The truth is my pride tries to stick to those things I think I do quite well on my own because I don’t want to ask for help. My mother told me when I was young, if she would try to help me with something, I would invariably say “I can do it myself, Mother.” I would rather do it myself because it seems easier and then when it gets done I can claim those victories to bolster my ego, which I’ve heard stands for ‘edging God out’. My desire to handle things on my own not only plays out in my interactions with others, it also plays out in my relationship with God. If I’m being honest with myself, I know I need God in every area of my life down to the smallest detail of every single day and accept the truth that I can’t do any of it on my own.

It is in this acceptance that I find humility to admit I need God to rescue me everyday and ask for it as often. Otherwise, I can’t seem to get out of my own way because I’m not allowing God to work in and through me. Every morning, I pray a prayer of surrender, giving Him my day. I offer all I am to Him and acknowledge my desire for not my will, but His will alone and the strength, courage and power to carry it out. Some days that prayer is enough to get me through the day and I live in constant communion with Him. Other days, I need to revisit that prayer throughout the day. If I’m not paying attention, the next thing I know is I’m back in my own head. It is amazing how fast I can drift right back to the ‘I got this’ attitude. However, that’s okay, because I am human, God provides grace and it’s actually been a place where I have gotten to see God’s power at work.

It is my pride in some of the deepest parts of my heart, where I believe that I can fare well enough alone and shut off the power of God working in and through my life. When I really come to that place of surrender acknowledging my desperate need for God in each moment, I am admitting my weakness as a human being. Not weaknesses just in terms of my skills or abilities or powerlessness over my circumstances, although God can use those things to bring me to Him, but rather a condition of the heart. It is an acknowledgement that God is God and I am not, I am a human. As I ask God to come in and to make everything in my being His, it is like I open the valve that allows God’s power to flow. Suddenly, I better understand Jesus’ words ‘with God all things are possible.’ Not for me or by me, but rather Jesus in me and I get to sit back and see God at work.

As I have continued to work on admitting over and over again throughout each day my need for rescuing, I am finding that my relationship with God continues to grow and He opens my eyes to things I never could see before. I feel stuff quicker, I notice stuff sooner, I try to stop when I have physical signs indicating my agitation and I interrupt my out of control thoughts with prayer. All of this perpetuates a different kind of carousel in my life than I have ever had before, the best kind of all. The more I spend time with God, the more my relationship grows deeper. The deeper it goes, the more I long for His power at work within me so the quicker I admit my need for Him. The more I express to God how I am destitute without Him, the more I spend time with Him, the deeper our relationship gets and my trust of His power in my life increases and so the circle goes and grows.

Practice for Today

I will choose to begin today by offering myself and my day to God, acknowledging who He is as God. I will humble myself by admitting my desperate human need for Him and invite Him into every part of my day. I accept that when I try to do things in my own way and strength, I make a mess of it all. I bring it all to God in constant conversation called prayer. His will is what matters most and I trust that He will lead me and guide me every step of the way. As I hand it all over to Him, I will get to see God’s power at work in my human weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV     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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Matthew 6:9-13 ESV     Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.