2 Lessons
sorry for the lack of updates hey. work’s piling up. And i’ve gotta get as much work done as possible before my upcoming travels
16/10-18/10: Galway (Ireland)
22/10-26/10: Barcelona (Spain)
6/11-8/11: Edinburgh (Scotland)
13/11-15/11: Belfast (Northen Ireland)
can’t wait!
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2 valuable interlinked lessons i’ve learnt recently, helped me a lot in my understanding and my approach towards God, hope it blesses you hey:
1) God sometimes allows us to fall into the same thing over and over again, so that we will always remember him and his grace.
2) Surrender to God, not to the doings that aid our walk with him
there was a period of time recently when i was rather peeved about falling into the same bad habits over and over again. It was ridiculous to me as i could be worshiping God in the morning, strengthened by the bible and all, and bam, come evening, i would snap. It didn’t make sense.
Talking to someone online, this wise person just shared what came to mind, and even though i think it served as a reminder to the person, it hit me right between the eyes. It was a revelation to me.
2 Cor 12:7-10 (the message)
7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
Wow – i wanted share more with regards to point 1, but the message version has explained it heaps better than what i would have been able to.
A few days later, God revealed another rhema word. I’ve been having the wrong focus. I figured that, just because i read the bible diligently, did my bible study once every couple of days, and worshiped and read regularly, i assumed that all these would be enough to keep me walking strong with God. And when i faltered, i would get upset. I thought, this was akin to eating well, training everyday, sleeping well, then failing my IPPT anyway. God reminded me gently,
“Are you surrendering to the things that help you draw near to me, or are you surrendering to ME?”
Bam, another one between the eyes. Had i continued to rely on my deeds to get close to God, only 2 things would happen: i would either get too self-righteous (im “there” because i did this and that), or beat myself up over bad habits or future sins i commit. Either way, it’s not going to help me achieve a close walk with Him.
At that point of time, two things happened simultaneously:
- left to my own devices, i realized how wretched and weak i was (according to Rachel Green: “there’s rock bottom, then underneath there’s 20 feet of crap, then there’s me!”)
- i got stronger in Christ, and acknowledged that by surrendering more of myself to his will, i can only get even stronger =)
I guess this is what it really means by, “when i’m weak, then i am strong”.
sidetrack: Dublin is starting to get colder. 8 deg yesterday night. Not even winter yet. Eeeeeps.
listening: Miles Collection
