I am often amazed (although I shouldn’t be, and wonder now why I am) by God’s ability to link together related lessons and experiences once He has my attention. I had the privilege of teaching a lesson on the life of Gideon and God’s transformation of his weakness into strength yesterday. A survey of this man’s life leaves us with the ultimate acknowledgement that God uses the humble… those who have come to the end of themselves. In Gideon’s case, he saw himself as the least amongst his brethren, quite the opposite from his visitor’s description, “Mighty Warrior.”
It was a painfully-pleasant surprise I received when I opened Dr. Wm Ryzek’s post, “On the Meaning of Mercy–Into the Presence” this morning to find these words…
“We dare not measure ourselves, our successes, our blessings, our churches against any other standard than the holiness of God. And when we are properly measured, we find ourselves weak, always tempted, ignorant, misguided (Heb. 2:16-18; 5:2) and in desperate need of our High Priest. But of all these, weakness stands out, at least to me because it is in such stark contrast to the prideful, arrogant, self-sufficient, independent and merciless ideals the world holds forth. To know our weakness is a deeply moving insight. It is the true condition of human existence, this frailty, fragility and tenuous life that is only a breath, a heartbeat away from ending. Most importantly, it is something Jesus knows about us because He, too, lived as a human being.”
Take a moment and visit his post through the link above. I am confident you’ll receive the blessing from his words that I did. His post is part of an “On the Meaning of Mercy” series.
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It is very cool when God does something like that.
What a wonderful post! By humbling ourselves and allowing God to penetrate our hearts he will cleanse us, and provide the strength needed. Many, many blessings to you…Robin
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We don’t experience His strength until we acknowledge our weakness – our inability – but when we do we know the REALITY of His promises as He undertakes for us.
What an amazing God!
Truly, truly, in our weakness is His strength! Hallelujah!
Thanks for this. It’s when we look back over our life we see God at work, it’s amazing.
Thank you for sharing Dr. Ryzek’s post with us. I have always been in awe of God’s infinite mercy and grace, and Dr. Ryzek’s words are a great encouragement to me. Now I have a new blog to follow! 🙂
Blessings on your day!
~Anna
Your very welcome, Anna! He indeed puts forth some excellent stuff. Thanks good friend.
Thank you. First of all, I love those old hymns. “I am weak, but He is strong.” That just stirs the depths of my heart. And then I loved that quotation you provided. I’d have never come across that if I did not subscribe to your blog. (And, on a personal note—-I interview tomorrow of for a chaplaincy position at a local correction facility! Say a prayer for me. I think the Lord could use me.)
Hi Lew! We took a moment to lift this privilege of opportunity you face before the Lord this morning, good friend. Praying that God will grant this desire. How meaningful to to minister to those in the correctional facilities of our nation! I have often felt the urge to get involved in this needed work, but it never materialized. Should this be our Lord’s will, I’ll know of a great place to keep my prayers focused… on your ministry. You are absolutely right. God will use you as it is obvious your heart is always in the right place, compassionate, caring, giving. Looking forward to how things go. Blessings