As the story goes, a little boy(Joshua) and his sister were visiting his grandparents on their farm. Given a slingshot as a gift, Joshua went out into the woods to practice his aim. When evening came, he walked home discouraged as he could never hit the target he set.
As he neared his grandparents’ farm, he saw his grandmother’s pet duck waddling around. Impulsively, he reached for his slingshot, aimed, and let the stone fly. To his horror and grief, the stone found its mark – killing the duck instantly. Panic taking over, he quickly buried the duck as best as he could and prepared to go inside the home for dinner. To his dismay, as he turned around, he saw that his sister (let’s call her Jenny) had been a silent spectator to the entire incident. Their eyes met but no words were exchanged.
At dinner that night, Grandma had made chicken and vegetables. Jenny took one look at Joshua’s plate and ordered him to slide over his chicken to her. Just as he began to protest, Jenny said, “Remember the duck?” Silently, Joshua gave Jenny his piece of chicken and, for the benefit of his grandparents, loudly claimed he had no appetite for chicken that night. The next day, Joshua’s grandfather offered to take him fishing. Just as he was running out the door in excitement, Jenny stopped him. “Remember the duck?” she asked. So Jenny went fishing and Joshua stayed to help Grandma.
After several days of Joshua being subject to his sister’s ruthless treatment, he could take it no longer. He burst into the kitchen and tearfully confessed his mistake to his grandmother. Compassion shining from her eyes, his Grandma hugged him and said, “I know what you did, dear one. I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. I forgave you that very instant. I was just silent on the matter because I wanted to see how long you would let Jenny make a slave out of you.”
Dear child of God, isn’t this such an alarming reality in our lives so often? Whenever we are faced with the enormity of our sin and trespasses, instead of running to God for redemption and reassurance, we often run the other way and try to work things out on our own. We do this as a response to the devil’s lie that God cannot possibly love and accept us in light of who we are and what we’ve done. But what grave danger there is for the man who turns to such a futile measure to remedy the soul’s infirmity. A person trying to cure his fatal physical malady single-handedly is in far less danger than he.
“The devil has two major tricks with people. One is, “You’re so good you don’t need to be saved.” The other is, “You’re so bad you can’t be saved.” And he’s a liar on both counts”. (Leonard Ravenhill) How ridiculous it would seem to us if a person hid from his doctor because of a physical malady that can be cured? “You poor chap”, we would say, “You need a doctor because you are sick. This is the perfect time to pay him a thorough visit.”
It is of great comfort to me that Jesus shares the same sentiment. “Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) Dear child of God, often the greatest danger in a Christian’s life is his inability to recognise that he is fundamentally weak. How many of us are convinced of the fact that apart from God and His work on our behalf, there is no way that we can make it? We behave just like little Joshua did. We think we are strong enough to handle things on our own. We do not, in humility, run to the one Person who can renew all things. Often, we let things get so bad, and we pay heed to the deceiver’s voice for so long that we find ourselves in a tight mess before we are forced to go to Him. I say, praise God for the pickle! Any situation that has led you to seek God more earnestly is worth the pain. Every failure, every tear, every sleepless night and brokenness is worth it if it leads you a little closer to conforming to the image of Christ.
I was listening to a sermon by brother Paul Washer the other day and it is perfect for what I am trying to get across. He says: “ Many people just mouth “weakness”, because it is the Christian thing to say, “I’m weak”. Other people find it very convenient to use that phrase. Why? Because they can use it as an excuse for their sin. “Well, I’m weak. Everybody’s weak”. But the right mindset here is in recognising your weakness, it drives you to God – immediately to God. Believing in faith that He is the fountain He claims to be. That He is the source and the Helper He claims to be. That He is one of unlimited resources. That He does not greedily hand out to children, but He lavishes upon us. So see, your problem is that you’re really not recognising you’re weak. Or, you recognise that you are weak, but you stay in your weakness. The thing is, your weakness ought to drive you to God, every time.”
Go back, beloved. Every single time you fall, ever time you stumble and breakdown. Each time you find yourself defeated in the same fight. Every time, without fail – go back. Tell God how much you hate doing it. Tell Him how it’s too difficult for you to overcome on your own. Unashamedly confess how you can do nothing without Him. I don’t know why we try to do things of the kingdom with our own strength. Jesus Himself said “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) The more we attempt such things on our own, the more we set ourselves up for failure and self-condemnation.
But praise be to God, the Father of all mercy! We never have to do anything on our own. We are not called to overcome any sin by ourselves. No self help book, no conference, no strength of the will or knowledge of man can do what the Holy Spirit seeks to do. It is He alone who can do a thorough work in our lives. Salvation belongs to the Lord. It is not a matter of human achievement or a by-product of our attempts to become “a better person”. It is He alone who can break the bonds of sin and bring about a deliverance so complete that the former man is unrecognisable by the latter. Let us learn to run to Him everyday.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.
(Hymn: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson)
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God is Good.
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