Picture this scene. A man is running down the street through a neighborhood. He is an older man and as the camera scans from head to toe you see that he is really struggling. He is sweating and just pushing his body to the limit. As the camera scans down you see that he has blood dripping from his knees. Your heart may now be skipping a beat with compassion for this man.
Next you see people on the side of the road that are cleaning up and notice him and start cheering him on. As he runs further you see a couple people taking a FINISH sign down from between two trees. When they notice him they pull the sign back up to its position and begin clapping and cheering him on through to the finish.
As they are gathered around him patting him on the back the picture fades away and these inspiring words appear on the screen as a public notice “Believe in Yourself”. Wow! I feel so caught up in the moment that I want to be there cheering that man on as he finishes this really hard race.
Believe in yourself. Right away I am drawn in. I want to believe in myself and believe that I can accomplish great things. This man did and that is what it took and he did it!
Has that message not been given to us over and over through magazines, television, songs, and even down to that back of our cereal box. Believe and you can achieve. It is all about you. You need to take more time for you so you can be the best you you can be. You, You, You. It is all about you. It is about what you can do for you and in you and through you. A lot of people live according to this self-promoted mantra.
Then the question is, where does God fit in? If life is all about you and what you can do and achieve in your own power, where do you fit a Savior into all of you? Some people may think that is an easy question with an easy answer. You simply say, I don’t or I give Him me on Sunday or the holidays. I do a five minute devotional in the morning. I listen to Christian talk shows on the way to work. All kinds of answers easily flow from our mouths.
Personally, I am a go getter. If I want something, I make attempts at getting it. If I want answers, I’ll ask a lot of questions and I will keep asking right on up the chain until my question is answered and my problem is solved.
But is that what God always wants of me? Does He want me to do things in my own power and believing in myself and what I can do, or does he want me to call on his strength and power to accomplish things?
In reality, believing in yourself completely contradicts the Word of God. We are to believe in God. Only He can save and rescue us from the bondage of sin. He alone can give us the power to accomplish our most daunting tasks. He alone can build us up to do His mighty works.
How many times have you thought to yourself, I have no idea how I got out of that situation? If we could save our selves then there would be no need for a savior. Acts 4:12 says: “And there is Salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Thinking that we can do things in our own power and thinking if we believe in ourselves enough we can accomplish all things even to the point that we believe we can save ourselves from situations is called self-righteousness. And this kind of thinking will keep us separated from THE ONE who can truly save us. Notice from the verse above it says there is Salvation in no one else and no other name under heaven, including yours. It is Christ alone that we should believe in and He will accomplish all things for His Glory.
The great thing about our Creator is He knows us and knows what we need. If we are living in His will and being obedient to Him, HE will do great things. Phillipians 4:13 teaches us , “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. If we are doing things through Him and for Him we can do great things.
Let’s not continue to live in and of ourselves and believe what the world is promoting. Today you can make the decision to BELIEVE IN GOD and may His power be made perfect in our weakness.
Have a great week and if you would like to have a further conversation feel free to contact me at youresewtrendy@gmail.com.
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Your writing speaks such truth! It is totally through God that we can do all, not through ourselves, although most of us are great at "striving." Whenever I try to do things in my own power, I end up feeling defeated, like I'm a failure. Maybe that's why God tells us to "Cease striving and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). He really knows best, and he wants us to obey him because he knows that is the best path for us. God is good. Thanks so much for sharing Jaime!