Sometimes we try to come to God
with our strength, thinking we need to be all sorted to come before Him. This
is actually a form of pride- 'I can help myself' often lies behind this. When
really He wants us to come as we are, without the masks, the make-up and the
'face' we tend to put on.
Have
you ever tried to help in some way a person unwilling to receive help, try as
you might you can't really offer help unless the person is willing to receive.
And that is true in some senses with God, if we are not open and vulnerable
before Him, we do not allow Him to give us His loving care. Matt 5:3 says "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven." What does it mean to be poor in spirit? To be
poor means to have lack/to have need; you see it is when we realize our lack
that is when God gives us the kingdom.
2 Cor 12: 9 says "But he said to me, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” You see for
God to show up strong we need to give Him our weakness. Psalm 62:8
says "Trust in him at
all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him". You see God
wants our hearts, because He wants a deep heart connection with us. Just as you
should be able to share your deepest fears, hurts and weakness to the one
closest to you; so God wants us to share these things with Him.
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| My art piece: Treasures in jars of clay |
2 Cor 4:7 "We now have this light (light of God)
shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing
this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not
from ourselves." It almost seems strange that
God would come and place a great treasure in us, and He places it in us knowing
our frailness. God is so great that He even shines through our brokenness-
this is a mystery of the beauty of our God. The message Bible puts it like this
"We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our
ordinary lives." Clay jars were created by a potter, (we need to allow Him to work and shape us into the form He chooses) and at times
valuable scrolls were kept inside the clay pot for safe keeping; such as the
Dead Sea Scrolls (Got Questions). God puts His treasure of His Spirit within
our brokenness. So we do not need to have it all together- He knows where you
are at, and wants to shine through your brokenness.
May God bless you
knowing you don't need to be strong
May He keep you
in His loving arms
May He make His
face shine upon you, as you display His glory through your weakness
And may He give
you peace through it all.
