Weakness and Anointing
Good morning and welcome to the Spirit of Stress newsletter! It’s a pleasure to be with you in spirit this morning. I hope you have your Bible and coffee, tea, or favorite drink. I pray the Lord has filled you with hope this past week, and today’s newsletter furthers your faith.
I used to smoke weed, and like a lot of people, it started as a way to let loose at parties, but it quickly became something I couldn’t live without. When I was sad, I smoked. When I was happy, I smoked. When I was angry, I smoked. Looking back, it’s interesting how my convictions changed over the years. Initially, I knew it was wrong and felt bad for doing it. At some point, though, I didn’t think much about it; it was just who I was. I was aware that I was addicted and even stopped for fairly long periods - a year here, six months there, but I always went back to it for one reason or another. Being high all the time led to other bad decisions and ultimately, a great backsliding. That’s the thing about backsliding: you often don’t stop until you hit the bottom. I frequently cried out to God for help and thought he wouldn’t rescue me. I thought he had given up on me, but he didn’t. What’s interesting to me is that I wanted to stop smoking long before I was able to stop smoking. I felt my weakness. I felt helpless. It pleased God to show me my weakness and his strength in a way that I would never forget. I’m grateful for the days he showed me that, apart from him, I could do nothing. He has caused me to take refuge in nothing but him. Today, we’re going to explore David as we’ll often do here, and try to understand the paradox of God’s strength being made perfect in our weakness. But first, let’s pray.
Opening Prayer
Lord, we exalt you this morning. You are in heaven, and we are on earth. You are the Creator, and we are the created. Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Your ways are higher than our ways. Help us to lean not on our own understanding. Help us, Lord, to understand your word this morning and further our faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Knowing Our Weakness
Truly understanding our weakness is a difficult task for us because, well, we’re human. By nature, we’re prideful. We’re inclined to believe that there’s some goodness or strength in us, and we’re prone to taking credit for things only God should get credit for. But today we’re going to strike a blow to our flesh, as Paul says, and find what God says about our flesh in the scripture.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9
“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” Genesis 6:5
“The mind governed by the flesh is death…” Romans 8:6
“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” Romans 8:7
“As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12
“But as for me, I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; Lord, do not delay.” Psalms 70:5
Apart from God, all we can do is evil. Apart from God, our flesh is hostile to God, and we cannot submit to God’s law. We are spiritually poor and needy, and require the Lord to deliver and clothe us. Jesus said, “apart from you can do nothing.” John 15:5 Everything is included in the word nothing. We can’t do a single thing apart from God. Now, there are many responsibilities and commands for us to keep to remain on the narrow path. But the responsibilities God puts on us do not imply that we can do them apart from his grace and power, and that’s what God taught me. Otherwise, the Law would have been sufficient, and Christ died for nothing. Our flesh is no different than the flesh of our patriarchs. It is still hostile to God, still cannot submit to God’s law, and still cannot do any good. We need the Holy Spirit. We need God’s grace. Is there work to do? fruit to bear? commands to obey? Yes! But, we must say with Paul, “by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10 It’s the yet not I, that defines the Christian. If not, then we’re boasting in our strength and ability, taking credit for the grace of God for who we are and what we do. Let us boast in the Lord alone.
God’s Strength Made Perfect In Our Weakness
It goes against our nature to put ourselves down, to not want to take some credit for who we are or what we’ve done, but it’s precisely what we’re called to do—deny ourselves. When Christ commands us to deny ourselves, he calls us to deny more than our selfish ambitions and worldly desires. He calls us to deny our wisdom, strength, and ability. There is only room for one to get the glory, and that glory belongs to the Lord.
Paul writes, “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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
The dove of the Spirit rests on the meek. For so many, Christ’s power isn’t resting on them because they are not boasting in their weaknesses. This is what God taught me in my battle with smoking weed. For so long, I did not boast in my weaknesses. I assumed the fact that God put responsibilities on me implied that I was able to do what he’d asked apart from him. Boy, was I wrong. Paul credits the grace of God for who he is and what he has done. Many people have not done that, have they? Have you? Do you boast in your weaknesses, so that Christ’s power can rest on you? Or have you set aside the grace of God and taken some credit for who you are and what you do?
God teaches us through Paul’s letters that we are not to boast in the flesh. He goes as far as to say, “for it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.” Philippians 3:3
Verses on not boasting in the flesh:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
“God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:28-31
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 1 Corinthians 4:7
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23-24
We must know where our strength comes from. We must know how we defeat our enemies. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Psalms 20:7 This is our boast. It is here, boasting in our inabilities and weaknesses, that God’s power is made perfect. We have no other boast. We have nowhere else to put our trust. Here’s what we know: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10
David’s statement in 2 Samuel is so profound because he recognizes who he is and who his God is. He’s saying his strength is not in himself, but in the power of his God, who has anointed him. He’s simultaneously expressing the feeling of weakness and being covered. Have you not been there? This is a safe place to be. In our weakness, we look for refuge. What a blessing it is to be made aware of our helplessness. We run scared to our Father. We cry out for mercy and for grace. Let no pride take you away from this childlike posture. Let no devil in hell cause you to step out from under your covering. God help us remember that in our moments of weakness, we are still anointed, covered, and protected. Let’s pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your covering and protection. Thank you for allowing us to feel our weaknesses. Thank you for the thorns that cause us to cry out to you. Thank you for the reminder that your grace is sufficient. Thank you for causing us to seek refuge in you. Help us to deny ourselves and to boast in our weaknesses so that your power can rest on us. We take no glory upon ourselves. We boast in you alone, Lord. Govern our minds, Lord, that we may submit to your law. Lead us as captives in your triumphal procession, and bring us safely into your kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Until next time, God willing, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
Spiritual Tip
Commit to memory the paradoxes of the Bible. Suffering is for our good, weakness is for our good, giving is better than receiving, etc. You’ll know you’re going in the right direction when what you’re doing doesn’t make sense to the world.
Exercise Tip of the Week (ETOW)
Don’t only foam roll at the beginning and end of your workout. Certainly, you should be doing that at the very least, but keep your foam roller handy to quickly release tightness in the middle of your workout. This is a great way to prevent injuries!
Book recommendation: All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon
Excerpt:
IN THIS PLACE, I would say a plain word or two to those who understand the method of justification by faith, which is in Christ Jesus, but whose trouble is that they cannot cease from sin. We can never be happy, restful, or spiritually healthy till we become holy. We must be rid of sin, but how is the riddance to be wrought? This is the life-or-death question for many. The old nature is very strong, and they have tried to curb and tame it, but it will not be subdued, and they find themselves, though anxious to be better, if anything, growing worse than before. The heart is so hard, the will is so obstinate, the passions are so furious, the thoughts are so volatile, the imagination is so ungovernable, the desires are so wild, that the man feels that he has a den of wild beasts within him, which will eat him up sooner than be ruled by him. We may say of our fallen nature what the Lord said to Job concerning Leviathan, “Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?” A man might as well hope to hold the north wind in the hollow of his hand as expect to control by his own strength those boisterous powers which dwell within his fallen nature. This is a greater feat than any of the fabled labors of Hercules. God is wanted here.
