Back to School Devotional: Day 3
“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
So often I wake up to some version of this feeling when it comes to a season change: I am not going to be enough for this next season. I cannot do this. I am going to sink.
Is this just me? I bet not. If it is just me, please send me your magic potion because this girl needs HALP.
Friends, what if we admitted that this fear has some truth to it? What if we feel our limitations, our weakness, and our need often?
But what if we let our inadequacies lead us to an adequate God?
The only reason we are who we are and we can do what we do is by God's grace. Apart from Him, we are nothing. The very breath you are breathing right now is His air. The eyes you are using to read are eyes that He made. The mind you are thinking with is hand-crafted by Him.
Here's today's truth as we head back to school, back to busy, back to packed:
I am enough, by God's grace.
God is enough.
I am not enough on my own.
I understand that it is counterculture to agree that you are not enough. We are being told that we are enough. But we cannot ignore the fact that we fall short all the time. We hurt others. We fail. We sin. We are weak and often cannot do what we want to do or be who we want to be or act how we want to act. We are in great need because we are messy, broken humans.
Which is why God and His endless grace fills in our gaps. God is abundant in our lack. God sent a savior for a reason; we are in need of being rescued. We were not created to live this life on our own, in our own strength. We were made to need God. And amazingly, His grace is ready to meet us when we have run out of ourselves. And the beauty? We can boldly ask for it constantly.
Hebrews 4:16 says, "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."
Take a moment and close your eyes and open your hands, palms up. Take a deep breathe in and exhale. Then admit your great need to God in this season change. Tell Him where you need His Spirit to produce and grow fruit in your life. Is it in your short-temper and lack of patience? Is it in your need to control everyone and everything? Is it in your overbearing demeanor? Is it in your worry and anxiety? Ask Him to meet you with His grace in your weakest place.
Free yourself from the pressure, take a load off, and tell yourself: I am not enough. But my God is. He and His grace are enough in my life. It is not up to me, it is up to Him.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
Dear God, help me to embrace my frailty, my weakness, my lack. And show me your power, your might, your strength. I want to lean into your grace instead of lunging for control. You are King and I am not. Show up where I cannot. Amen.