A poster of a perfect arabesque en pointe hung in the dance studio where I studied ballet. “If you can believe it, you can become it,” the caption declared. I liked that philosophy. I liked to think that if I worked hard enough, believed hard enough, and proclaimed it often enough that I could overcome any obstacle.
A similar theory sometimes drifted into my theology. In my love for Christ, I wanted to serve Him faithfully, bring Him joy, let my life make a difference in His kingdom. Not bad desires. But what I didn’t understand was how quickly those desires turned my focus on myself instead of Him. When I spotted a small sanctified choice I’d made, pride was ready to surge into my thoughts and affirm my ability to make myself the person I desired to be. When I failed, despair flooded me.
The more of life I experienced – the complications, the harshness, the inexplicable injustice – the more I learned that there are times no amount of human will can fix everything. I could pray and declare and fight and try, but I wasn’t wise enough, or strong enough, or loving enough to solve certain challenges. Even those within myself.
I’m reminded daily that I need a Deliverer. Not to boost my own efforts, but to replace my heart with His.
Galatians 2:20-21 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
I love how C.S. Lewis puts it in Mere Christianity:
“But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.”
When I began writing the Sword of Lyric Series, I wrote about characters who can poison minds. For some the lie builds on shame, for others self-doubt, for others anger. But perhaps one of the most dangerous mind-poisons we face is a self-reliance that surges ahead fueled by human effort and optimism–forgetting that apart from Him we can do nothing.
Whether we are swimming in doubt and discouragement, or pride and self-reliance, true joy returns as we remember the truth. In every way that we are not enough–He is.
Blessings!
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