Wall Paper

Weakness! What weakness? Surely, everybody knows that the Christian life is one of constant triumphalism and victory. Christians never suffer from fears, worries or anxieties. The word depression is not in their vocabulary and the term “low self image” is a concept found in a psychology text book and not in our lifestyles. And if, by chance, horror of horrors, a weakness should dare to rear its ugly head in our lives, then the best thing to do is to keep that sort of information to ourselves. After all, we have our image to protect and our reputation to preserve.

It’s easy!
 The Christian life today is so often portrayed as an experience of unbroken joy, peace and material prosperity. To be saved and filled with the Spirit means to live a charmed life entirely free of trouble, where all problems are instantaneously solved and where miracles are provided on demand. We should never get sick and, if we do, should be healed immediately by simple effortless faith. If we are not prospering and living affluently, then all we have to do is to speak out our claim in faith, and the heavens will open up, and we shall live happily ever after!

If only it were that easy. The reality is, of course, that just because I am a Christian, I cannot expect to be exempt from the many problems of human life.

God’s investment
 It’s good to remind ourselves that God will go to any length in order to make us into the kind of people He wants us to be! He has invested so much in us and the cost to Him was incredible and immense. He has not brought us this far to give up on us. He is making us ready to live with Him forever!

We often quote Romans 8:28 as if it stands alone in a vacuum. The well-known phrase “all things work together for good” is, however, closely linked with verse 29, where we see that “we are predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” We are involved in a process and the “all things” of this present time are part of the preparation for the glory that will be revealed in us! God hasn’t finished with us yet!

The bad news is that Christians sometimes do experience worries, fears and depressions. The good news is that it needn’t stay that way, for God’s strength wants to be made perfect in our weakness.

Here are some of the weaknesses that sometimes plague our lives.


Discouragement.
 We all get discouraged from time to time. Discouragement comes in many forms and from many directions. It often comes when we least expect it. It often comes from people from whom we would least expect it.

Lots of God’s servants experienced discouragement. Ask Joseph, as he surveys his pit and his dungeon; ask Elijah, under his juniper tree and in his cave; ask Jeremiah, when he’s up to his armpits in mud and mire in his pit. Ask your Pastor on a Monday morning!

There was a time in David’s life when the people whom he loved the most, plotted to kill him. These were the same men whom he had transformed, from a desolate and despairing mob in Adullam’s cave, into a mighty fighting force! He did the only thing he could do, and “encouraged himself in the Lord.” Read the story in 1 Samuel 30 and discover how everything he lost was restored to him, plus all the spoils of his attackers. He came out of his discouragement more than a conqueror!

Worry.
 A sign outside an American church reads: “Don’t let worry kill you off - let the church help!”

The original word for “worry” in the New Testament, usually translated care or anxiety, has the meaning of “to tear or to rip apart.” And that’s exactly what worry does. It can effect us physically and emotionally; it saps our energy; it can drive us to an early death; it fills us with anxiety about the future. Worry is definitely a destructive emotion. It is also a sin! That’s why Jesus emphasised in so many ways: “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself” (Matthew 6:34).

Rejection.
 Emotional wounds are painful. Nothing hurts quite like being rejected; the experience of not being included, of being shunned and ignored.

A person who has experienced rejection reacts by building walls, and then guards against the possibility of ever being hurt again. It’s just like when we sprain our ankle; we do everything possible to protect the damaged part. We don’t want to feel that pain again. Self-protection is a natural reaction to a physical injury. It has its counterpart in the emotional realm too. We put up our defence mechanisms. We don’t want to be hurt again, especially by the one who caused us the pain in the first place. We become suspicious of everyone’s motives and not only end up by rejecting the input of others - we are in danger of rejecting ourselves too.

Bitter FruitsThe “bitter root” of rejection inevitably produces a host of “bitter fruits”. These include, a sense of unworthiness, inferiority and insecurity, accompanied by the fear of failure, the fear of man, degrees of anger, self-pity, despair, depression and introversion. The ultimate of all this is suicide - if no one else cares, why should we? The list is endless.

Rejection affects our thinking, our planning and our relationships. It spoils our relationship with others and also with God. It results in a warped view of ourselves and produces a low self image. It also produces a lot of lonely people in our churches. “If only!”

These are some of the saddest words in the English language. Failure is one of the most soul-destroying experiences of life. It comes in all shapes and sizes. For some, it’s a business crisis with all its financial loss. For pastors, maybe, it’s the church that didn’t grow or those shattered dreams and unfulfilled visions. How many times have we said: “If only I hadn’t said that or done that.” It’s a sad list that rises up to haunt us.

Many of God’s people were familiar with failure. Noah never forgot the time when he got drunk. Abraham, the “friend of God”, lied about his wife; then there was the murder committed by Moses; and what about David’s sins!

Thank God He is a God of restoration! In spite of Peter’s, “if only I hadn’t denied Him,” six weeks later, he was fully restored to the Master’s service. He would never forget the failure in the High Priest’s courtyard nor, thank God, the early morning restoration encounter with Jesus on the lake shore.

Good News!
 God never intended us to live our lives anxiously worrying about the future. He never intended us to live our lives under a constant thick black cloud of depression and despair. He never intended us to live our lives continually haunted by a sense of failure and rejection.

God’s antidote.
 God has an antidote for the fear that paralyses us, the anger that destroys us and the guilt that condemns us. For the torment of fear he gives us love; for anger He provides joy; and for guilt, He fills our minds with peace. Love, joy and peace, the fruit of the Spirit, which is far stronger than any root of bitterness, fear or rejection!

Shattered!
 The young art student strapped his exhibit on the back of his bike. He proudly carried his sculpture to the competition. On the way he skidded and fell off. His exhibit lay broken in small pieces.

The only thing he could do was to glue the pieces back together. He had no time to design another exhibit. Sadly, he left his scarred work amongst all the other works of art. Some time later he went to see which one of his colleagues had won the competition. To his amazement, he found that he had won first prize!

Attached to his exhibit was this note: “Although it has been damaged in the fall, it is still more beautiful than any of the other exhibits.”

“I have plans for you!”
 Whether it’s some negative emotional memory or a skeleton from the past, it’s not long before the devil says to us: “You’re finished; you’ve gone too far; there’s no hope for you; you’re too badly damaged!”

But then God interrupts him and says: “Oh no, you’re not. In spite of the emotional wounds; in spite of the scars and marks left by sin and failure, I haven’t finished with you yet! I’ve invested far too much in you to let you go now; I have plans for you, plans to give you a future and a hope. And I’m still in the process of making you into a beautiful vessel fit for the Master’s use!”

And that’s what’s so amazing about grace!