I was singing the song Jesus Loves Me by Anna B. Warner the other day. As I was singing in first person, this one line really stood out to me: We Are Weak, But He Is Strong. I’ve been singing this all week long and loving it!
Recently, after watching one of my TV interviews, a Christian woman asked me why I get to live in peace and wanted to know where her peace was. I love being asked these types of questions because it forces me to think through my answers and I learn a lot in the process. Questions from other people about my grace journey have actually been a major help to me.
Here is a portion of my answer to her question:
I believe God created each person with a free will because He loved us so much that He didn’t want to have robots that served Him and loved Him because they were forced to. With free choice came the option to choose good or evil. Even though I was a Christian, I chose the wrong path for many, many years by choosing to rely on myself and my own effort and by trying to solve my problems without God’s help. This approach to life left me very anxious and frustrated – almost constantly. I believe the reason I now live in the peace that passes understanding that the Bible talks about is because I chose to give up on my own self effort and I told God that I was done trying to live this life in my own strength. When I made the choice to receive His Great Grace and came to the understanding that only through Him was I going to be able to successfully live the Christian life, His peace came over me and it has never left. Just like me, the way you’ll know if you’re trusting in God instead of trying to figure things out on your own and working everything out in your own strength is that you will have peace, even when all of your circumstances are not lining up correctly. You’ll have peace in the midst of the storm. You’ll find yourself relying on God’s ability instead of your own to solve your problems. Now, this doesn’t mean there will be nothing for you to do in regards to your specific circumstances and situations, but whatever actions you take, they need to be Spirit-led actions and not self-led actions.
I’m happy to say that my reply to her question encouraged her. Thank God!
I’ve posted it here with the hope that it will encourage many others as well.
Let me make one clarification to my response: Of course, what I said to her doesn’t mean I’m living in perfect peace 100% of the time because there are still times when I choose to trust in myself and my own ability to solve my problems instead of trusting in God and receiving His grace for the situation at hand. But life has become pretty simple now for my family and I because when things begin to get chaotic, we simply stop and ask ourselves several questions:
1.) In what area are we not trusting God that is causing this anxiety and frustration?
2.) In what area are we doing our own thing instead of following the leadership of the Holy Spirit?
We’re convinced that the Holy Spirit would never lead us into chaos so if our lives begin to get chaotic, that’s a sign to us that we haven’t taken the time needed to hear God’s heart in one area or another.
There’s an extreme amount of safety in remembering:
WE ARE WEAK…BUT HE IS STRONG
There’s also an extreme amount of danger in us putting confidence in our own flesh.
I love these scriptures that remind me of this truth.
In Philippians 3:3-4 Paul says,
3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! (NLT)
Have you ever heard someone say “Jesus is just a crutch?”
Ha! No way: Jesus isn’t just my crutch. For me, He’s the entire hospital AND everything in between!
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says,
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.” (MSG)
So let’s sing it out my friend. Let’s sing it loud and clear:
We Are Weak, But He Is Strong!
If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!
Sandra McCollom
