"He gives power to the faint, and to
those who have no might... he increases
strength " (Isa 40:29).
The story is told of a blind man and a
cripple who became inseparable friends.
What contributed to their friendship?
The cripple could see perfectly but
could not walk. The blind man had strong
legs, but could not see. The cripple offered
his seeing ability to the blind man in exchange for his mobility.
The blind man would carry the cripple
on his back. The cripple would instruct the
blind man which way to walk and warn
him of objects in the path that would cause
him to stumble.
Their mutual weaknesses and need
brought them together to take advantage
of each other's strength.
Depend More On God
:
In the-same way, our spiritual blindness
and lameness-should drive us to a prayerful
dependent relationship with God, so His
strength can take the place of our weakness.
The hymn writer said it beautifully:
His strength is made perfect in
weakness.
His power is not for the strong.
He giveth more grace
To the weak in the race.
His strength is made perfect in
weakness.
The personal weaknesses which make
us aware of our lack of ability or power to
be a leader should cause us to turn our heart
to God in prayer (sometimes with fasting).
If we respond in this way, we will find ' 'He
gives power to the faint, and to those who
have no might... he increases strength"
(Isa 40:29).
The attitude of dependence upon God
attracts His attention and draws Him to us, . and causes Him to gloriously
manifest His power through us. Our inadequacies are seen as blessings in
disguise when they press us to dependence on Christ.
However, if instead, we allow in self-pity, or self-hatred, looking inside our-selves, searching for understanding of our
problems, all we end up with is a feeling
of inferiority.
Confess The Word What psychologists call "an inferiority
complex" is usually a carnal preoccupation with ourselves
(self-consciousness). It can result in a view of yourself which says, "I am no
good! I am just a useless washout... God can never use me." This kind of
self-view leads to total discouragement. Billy Graham (most famous
evangelist in history) say, "God can
never use a discouraged servant."
This is true! We must overcome such
attitudes by the word of our confession
(Rev 12:11).
By saying about ourselves what the Bible says about us, we are made over comers. The Bible says, "/ can do all things
though Christ who strengthens [empowers, enables] me "(Phil 4:13). "Behold I
give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you ' ' (Luke 10:19). Through our God
-we shall do valiantly. It is He Who shall tread down our enemies. We will
sing and shout the victory. Christ is King! Christ is King! We must not
confuse an inferiority complex with the scriptural meekness that God blesses. It
is not the same thing.
Draw Near In Prayer
The kind of weakness to which God
responds is that which produces a sense of dependence on Him.
When we pray, "I need you Oh God, and cannot get along
without you" — God works on our behalf. We become like King David who
prayed, "... My soul longs for thee, Oh God" (Ps 63:1; 84:2).
This sense of need contributes to the
development of a healthy devotional and
prayer life.
That is the way it should work. Isn't it?
In contrast to the above, an all pervasive
self-consciousness will paralyze us. It is a
barrier which will prevent God's power
from flowing through us.
Renounce this
kind of carnality and turn from it. Recognize that God is the strength of your life
and you need not be afraid (Ps 27:1). He
will show Himself strong on behalf of
those who reverence, worship and depend
on Him.
Exchange Your
Strength For His Strength
"Even youth shall faint and be weary,
young men shall utterly fail; but they that
wait upon the Lord shall renew [exchange]
their strength ' ' (Isa 40:30,31).
The key word in this verse is "renew"
— which would better be translated "exchange." As we wait upon the Lord, He
will take away our strength and replace it
with His own.
It is not a matter of combining our
strength with His, but a complete removal
of our strength to put on His. God is saying,
"If you are strong in yourself, I cannot use
you. If you can do it yourself, you do not
need Me."
What does the Lord ask us to do before
He will "exchange" strength with us?
Acknowledge Your Need. King David wrote, "This poor man cried, and the Lord
heard him and saved him out of all his troubles "(Ps 34:6). Asaph acknowledged his weakness and
need of God in these stirring words: "So
foolish was I, and ignorant; I was like a
beast before thee " (Ps 73:22).
Both David and Asaph received God's strength because they were willing to humbly acknowledge their need and weakness.
There is a powerful word of promise for
all who will do the same thing.
' When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none, and their tongue faileth
for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the
God of Israel, will not forsake them.
"I will open rivers in high places, and
fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will
make the wilderness a pool of water, and
the dry land springs of water.
"... That they may see, and know, and
consider, and understand together, that
the hand of the Lord hath done this... "
(Isa 41:17-20).
1)
Paul An Example. Paul found that if he would acknowledge areas of need and
weakness in his life, it would result in the strength of God coming to him in
more powerful measure. He writes, "Lest I should be exalted above measure,
through the abundance of the revelations, there was given unto me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.... For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me ' ' (2Cor 12:7,8). And how did the
Lord answer Paul's petition for relief from this buffering and weakness? "My
grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect [complete] in [your] weakness '"(vs 9).
Now you can understand why Paul
says:
"Most gladly therefore, will I rather
glory in my infirmities [weaknesses], that
the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities,
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake.
For, when lam weak, then lam strong"
(2Cor 12:9,10).
This is the principle by which the power
of the gospel works. When we're weak,
and sense our great need of God, this
makes us completely dependent on Him.
This causes us to spend much time in prayer. The result? We
are strong!
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