There are some days when I am keenly aware of my own insufficiency. I am not enough – by any standard. I am inadequate for the tasks at hand and for the people who need me. I do not have the resources or the tenacity for all that is before me. I am broken, sinful, and in desperate need of a Savior. My heart needs reshaping by a loving Potter’s hands.
There are two temptations in this realization. We can downplay the severity of our sin (we’re not “that” bad). Or we can simply give in to despair, wallowing in the mire of our insecurities and guilt. But we have another option: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16).
It is within our brokenness that God provides His help. But first, we will have to come to Him! We cannot depend on our own meager strength – we will have to depend on God’s! And He, beloved, is always sufficient.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
So when we are caught up in our failure, in our mess, in our heartache, we can draw near to the throne of God. He is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4-5) and He longs to cover us with His grace. And the more we throw ourselves upon His mercies, the more we are rewarded with His presence and love. The more we recognize our own inadequacy, the more we realize the power of God: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
Perhaps we learn more from failure than we do from success.
Perhaps we are healed more only after we have been wounded.
Perhaps our light can only shine through a broken clay jar.
We cannot see the whole picture. Only God does. But we can always trust our broken pieces to him. He, dear one, is always more than enough.
All we want in Christ we shall find in Christ. If we want little, we shall find little. If we want much, we shall find much; but if in utter helplessness, we cast our all on Christ, He will be to us the whole treasury of God. ~ Henry Benjamin Whipple
Photo by Courtney Cook on Unsplash
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