Day 21: I Can't But He Can
WHAT IF~
I CAN'T, BUT JESUS CAN?
Oh, the FREEDOM of knowing your limitations,that RELEASES you from PRIDE.
For I lived so much of my lifeSTRIVING to be everything to everyone,because I believed I could.
But when JESUS takes HIS rightful place in your life,HE RELEASES you from trying to do HIS job.
And oh, the FREEDOMof passing the baton to JESUS!
To finally stop trying to dowhat only HE CAN do.
Because HE CAN do for youwhat you CAN'T do for yourself.
As I reminisce over my life,I just smile.
Because I think about the dayJESUS met me,exhausted and wearyfrom STRIVING TO BE PERFECTfor everyone.
Because all I ever wantedwas to bePERFECTLY LOVED.
And then I met JESUS.
And discovered that I already wasLOVEDby the ONE whose LOVE is PERFECT.
Maybe you can relate.
I CAN'T be who you want me to be,because I CAN'T even bewho I want to be.
You know how I know?
Because that is how I lived my lifebefore I met JESUS.
And sometimes,even now,I catch myself STRIVINGto be the PERFECT CHRISTIAN.
Oh, how easily I give myselfway too much POWER!
The POWER to believethat I can perfectly obeyevery verse in the BIBLE,at all times,in every circumstance.
And when I CAN'T?
I tell myself,
TRY HARDER.
DO BETTER.
BE BETTER.
Yet underneath all that striving,I am still that messy little girlwho falls short,and falls short,and falls short.
Who is a PERFECT CHRISTIAN?
Umm...
Oh, not me!
And I am FINISHEDstriving to become onethrough my own strength.
Because I CAN'T make someone love me.
And I CAN'T make someone stop loving me.
I don't have that POWER.
I am just a little girlin an old woman's body,with a heart that has knownits share of wounds.
And oh, the scars!
Yet those scars remind meof the ONEwhose hands still bear the marksof HIS PERFECT SACRIFICE.
HIS SCARStell the story of a LOVEthat I could never earn and will never have to.
And that LOVE is teaching meto stop STRIVING.
To stop trying to do what only
GOD CAN do,
HIS SON CAN do,
and HIS HOLY SPIRIT CAN do.
And when I become hard on myself,when I fall shortof my own expectations,and begin to drown in SHAME...
Oh, what am I doing?
For I am HIS,and HE is MINE.
And HE is my RIGHTEOUSNESS.
HIS PERFECT LOVEdoes not pretend my imperfections aren't there.
HIS GRACE meets me in them,forgives me,and continues to change me.
And then I hear HIS WORD:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Oh, think about that!
HIS POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN MY WEAKNESS.
Not in my STRIVING.
Not in my PERFORMANCE.
Not in my abilityto get everything right.
But in my WEAKNESS.
The very thingI spent so much of my lifetrying to hide.
Oh, the FREEDOMof no longer having to pretendI CAN do it all!
Because
HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT.
I CAN'T change meby simply trying harder.
And I CAN'T change you~
And that is whyI NEED JESUS.
That is whyI am a CHRISTIAN.
Because I follow the ONEwho sees me as HIS OWN.
The ONE who sees every messy,stinky, imperfect part of me.
And still LOVES ME.
The ONE who knowsthat I cannot obey HIS WORDperfectly in my own strength.
Because if I could,I wouldn't need a SAVIOR.
I would be trustingin the perfection of ME.
Oh, sweet SURRENDER!
To look into the mirror of your soul and finally admithow messy you really are.
And sometimes,you just have to laugh.
But then...
Oh, the tears.
The tears of JOY that begin to flowwhen you realize...
WHO AM I?
Who am Ithat the LORD OF LORDS would call me by name?
Who am Ithat the KING OF KINGSwould welcome me into HIS KINGDOM?
Who am I that the ONE who knowseverything about me would LOVE ME with a LOVEI have done absolutely nothing to deserve?
Oh, my friend,I am being brutally honest.
Because I have to be.
And because I believeGOD invites us to come to HIM just as we are.
Not pretending.
Not performing.
Not striving to impress HIM.
But coming with our honest,imperfect,needy hearts.
And there,we discoverHIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
A LOVE that flows not because we deserve it,but because of WHO HE IS.
Oh, the sweet aroma of GRACE~ A GIFTthat cannot be earned.
A GIFTthat can only beRECEIVED.
Even by the worst of sinners.
Even by ME.
Because...
THE GOD WHO MATTERS SAYS YOU MATTER.
AND THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.
So does that mean I will give up tryingto follow every verse in the BIBLE?
Oh, YES!
I am giving up trying to do itPERFECTLYin my own strength.
But am I giving up on following GOD'S WORD?
Oh, NO!
Because now,instead of striving to make myself PERFECT,
I followTHE PERFECT ONE.
JESUS.
And I learn to respond to the HOLY SPIRITwho lives within me.
And here is another beautiful
PROMISE:
"For it is GOD who works in you to will and to act in order
to fulfill his good purpose"(Philippians 2:13).
Oh, did you catch that?
IT IS GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU.
Not just FOR you.
But IN you.
HE is at work changing my desires.
Changing my heart.
Teaching me to want what HE wants.
Teaching me to LOVE as HE LOVES.
So that my desires become more like HIS desires.
My heart becomes more like HIS HEART.
And HIS WORD becomes not another burden I must carry,but the TRUTH that leads me to green pastures.
Because I ama DAUGHTER OF THE KING.
And through CHRIST,I can face what HE calls me to face.
For,
"I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me"(Philippians 4:130.
Not because I CAN do everything.
But because HE strengthens me to do what I could never doapart from HIM.
Oh, the PRESSURE of STRIVING has begun to dissipate.
Because I no longer have to be EVERYTHING to EVERYONE.
I don't have to be PERFECTLY PERFECT.
I don't have to do GOD'S JOB.
I just have to keep turning to JESUS.
For the FREEDOM is not foundin finally becoming everything I thought I needed to be.
The FREEDOM is found in belonging to the ONE who is everythingI will ever need.
Because JESUS isn't OPTIONAL~
HE IS ESSENTIAL.
And only IN HIM are we truly FREE.
FREE AMEN~
(listen to the song below)
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