I used to be known as a die-hard New Year’s Goal Chic. I drove my friends crazy asking them what their 1 year, 3 year
and 5- year goals were. Suffice it to say, we didn’t get invited to many New Year’s Eve parties!
Thankfully, somewhere in the midst of checking off goals and striving toward dreams, REAL life happened.
I will admit that it has taken a lot of years and many dark nights of the soul to recognize that God’s greatest gifts are best unwrapped in the solitude and darkness found in the valley.
More recently I spent some time in a dark valley of physical sickness. After several nights of no sleep, I became angry at my inability to feel productive. I finally realized that God needed my attention. Not for His benefit; but for mine.
“What do I need to learn that I’m clearly missing?!” I whispered angrily to Him after another long miserable night of no sleep (the sleep-deprived me is not the best version of me!). I was at the end of myself. He had my full attention.
Reflecting on my life, I saw the parallel of my striving to trust Him juxtaposed with my attempting to be self-sufficient. I realized that the ongoing tug-o-war between self-sufficiency and trusting Jehovah Jireh is a futile game of coming to the end of one’s self.
In II Corinthians Paul shares of his own afflictions. Afflictions which he pleaded with God three times to take away from him. He speaks about the thorn in his flesh, a messenger from Satan, sent to torment him.
God both heard and answered Paul’s prayer. God’s answer may not have been the answer Paul had hoped it would be. God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Cor. 12:9). This verse refers to God as El Shaddai: The All-Sufficient One.
Only the Holy Spirit can repair and heal the areas of our lives that lack what is necessary to trust God fully. Our weaknesses allow Christ’s power to rest in us.
Jesus never lived a life chock full with New Year’s goals —because He did not live His life for Himself. His only goal was obedience to His Father.
Worldly goals are vain and empty. Living for oneself is not suggested ONE time as an option in the Word of God. An empowered man or woman is not one who strives to make something of his or her life because they are worth it. Rather, an empowered man or woman is one who makes nothing of his or her life. An empowered man or woman is one who recognizes his or her success lies in the knowledge that Christ’s power is most recognizable in one's weaknesses.
It is a person who is able to recognize that everything we accomplish, every breath we spend, every gift we have been given is because of His grace and because HE and HE alone is worthy. Our only goal should be the same as Jesus—to live in obedience to the Father and do whatever HE asks us to do—for HIS glory, not our own.
So, no goals for this writer this year except to spend more time getting to know my Father and to gain a deeper understanding of His sufficient grace. A grace that annihilates the fear of failure and the need to be self-sufficient. A grace which reflects His perfect power not in spite of my weaknesses but because of my weaknesses. A grace which I am hoping will help me loosen my grip on the rope in the futile game of tug-o-war as I daily learn to trust Him more.
Thankfully, somewhere in the midst of checking off goals and striving toward dreams, REAL life happened.
I will admit that it has taken a lot of years and many dark nights of the soul to recognize that God’s greatest gifts are best unwrapped in the solitude and darkness found in the valley.
More recently I spent some time in a dark valley of physical sickness. After several nights of no sleep, I became angry at my inability to feel productive. I finally realized that God needed my attention. Not for His benefit; but for mine.
“What do I need to learn that I’m clearly missing?!” I whispered angrily to Him after another long miserable night of no sleep (the sleep-deprived me is not the best version of me!). I was at the end of myself. He had my full attention.
Reflecting on my life, I saw the parallel of my striving to trust Him juxtaposed with my attempting to be self-sufficient. I realized that the ongoing tug-o-war between self-sufficiency and trusting Jehovah Jireh is a futile game of coming to the end of one’s self.
In II Corinthians Paul shares of his own afflictions. Afflictions which he pleaded with God three times to take away from him. He speaks about the thorn in his flesh, a messenger from Satan, sent to torment him.
God both heard and answered Paul’s prayer. God’s answer may not have been the answer Paul had hoped it would be. God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Cor. 12:9). This verse refers to God as El Shaddai: The All-Sufficient One.
Only the Holy Spirit can repair and heal the areas of our lives that lack what is necessary to trust God fully. Our weaknesses allow Christ’s power to rest in us.
Jesus never lived a life chock full with New Year’s goals —because He did not live His life for Himself. His only goal was obedience to His Father.
Worldly goals are vain and empty. Living for oneself is not suggested ONE time as an option in the Word of God. An empowered man or woman is not one who strives to make something of his or her life because they are worth it. Rather, an empowered man or woman is one who makes nothing of his or her life. An empowered man or woman is one who recognizes his or her success lies in the knowledge that Christ’s power is most recognizable in one's weaknesses.
It is a person who is able to recognize that everything we accomplish, every breath we spend, every gift we have been given is because of His grace and because HE and HE alone is worthy. Our only goal should be the same as Jesus—to live in obedience to the Father and do whatever HE asks us to do—for HIS glory, not our own.
So, no goals for this writer this year except to spend more time getting to know my Father and to gain a deeper understanding of His sufficient grace. A grace that annihilates the fear of failure and the need to be self-sufficient. A grace which reflects His perfect power not in spite of my weaknesses but because of my weaknesses. A grace which I am hoping will help me loosen my grip on the rope in the futile game of tug-o-war as I daily learn to trust Him more.
Oh for grace to trust Him more.
Stay the Course...
Sheila
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91: 1& 2
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