“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” ~Matthew 5:48
I thought the Christian life was going to be easier than it is! Have you ever had this thought? Have you ever struggled so hard trying to be good that you felt like giving up and just quitting the Christian Club altogether? Well, I have! I didn't know I couldn't change myself, no-one ever told me that I didn’t need to try so hard, in fact, I was encouraged to do the complete opposite. I was told to try harder to do good, to be perfect like God because the Bible says, be perfect like your Father in heaven.
But the harder I tried, the more I failed. Talk about frustration! I was so continually discouraged because it seemed all I could do was fail over and over again. After a while I started to think I just wasn’t cut out for the whole Christianity thing, I was too far gone or maybe just not good enough or strong enough to ever succeed.
I just can’t seem to do the right thing…
Try as I might I just couldn’t seem to hit the mark. Sometimes I felt like the “Christian” bar was set too high for me to ever reach it. That was until I learned it wasn’t by my strength, but by His—until I learned that it wasn’t about anything I was or wasn’t doing, but rather about what He already did!
“So he answered and said to me: This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’Says the Lord of hosts.” ~Zechariah 4:6
I finally realized that I didn’t have to try so hard, all I had to do was ask Him and He would gladly do it all for me. All I had to do was lean on Him—believe, and trust.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
~Matthew 11:28-30
It took me a while to understand that I couldn’t achieve any success on my own—that was yet another lie that Satan stuck in my head—that I just needed to try harder to do what was right and I would succeed!
I was trying to do everything all by myself, by my might and my power! I think I finally learned why that won't ever work. Because I have no power, that’s why. On my own, I am power-less! Without the empowerment of God’s power-filled Holy Spirit, I am nothing but an empty gun aimlessly shooting in the dark.
“He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” ~Isaiah 40:29-31
On our own, we are powerless to do much of anything, but He gives us power and strength. We need to get this through our heads once and for all, without His power we can do nothing, we are power-less!
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” ~ John 15:5
Even though I finally understand that all I need to do is take everything to God, and He will lead and guide me to His will; I still, to this day, try to do things all on my own and then get frustrated with Him for allowing my failures to happen.
Not until we totally surrender every aspect of our lives over to God will He then be able to prevail. Not until we accept His will as being what’s always best for us, will we ever be okay with what’s happening in our life, both the good as well as the bad. I just gotta try harder to remember . . . He knows the future; I don’t!
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” ~Isaiah 46:10
Q: When will you totally trust God?
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