I think one of my greatest struggles in life has been to break free from the “religious” performance and recognize Christ’s Life as the source of every good work. I used to obsess on how I was working so hard to make God happy, when that was not His desire at all. In fact, I failed a lot and was completely miserable in my quest to be a perfect child of God on my own. Not to mention I judged a lot of other people in order to try to make myself feel better. Of course, it didn’t work, and I just ended up being a judgmental, miserable human with a prettied up exterior to show off in an attempt to prove I was something else. So much work for nothing!
I had to come face-to-face with the realization that I wasn’t making things better, and in fact, I was mad at God and thought His plan was pretty lame. When He started allowing that façade I kept wrapped around myself like a shield to deteriorate and disintegrate, I thought I would have to go to denial or rejection of God to deal with all of it. But I finally started to understand that it wasn’t God that was my problem—it was my perception of what He wanted and how I thought His love was based on how well I performed.
Repeatedly throughout the Bible, God talks of His strength as the support and the way that we do anything. He is not in denial of our weakness, but instead operates best when we can acknowledge that weakness. He loves us to need Him, and to realize our need of Him. There is a sweet closeness that develops as we become more aware of this dependence, and even celebrate it! He never intended us to live the Christian life in our own resources. He actually said He would put His spirit in us to provide all we need for it!
But instead, we often keep trying to eke it out on our own, hoping that maybe one day the crazy taskmaster might be happy. We don’t realize we have done this to ourselves. It has never been a command of God to do life without His power. He is the One who is perfecting us, completing the good work in us, expressing what is pleasing through us and loving us.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that we just sit on a log and forget about doing anything because we are waiting for God to do it through us. That’s passivity. Instead, it becomes this beautiful journey of relationship in which we recognize throughout the day that we have connection to the Holy Spirit and therefore, access to all we need for each practical encounter. Marriage struggles? He’s got enough for loving a person we don’t want to love. Loss? He comforts and carries us through. Kids that will not get ready on time? He has patience that allows us to take a step away from the standard of perfection we are putting on ourselves and allow our kids to mess up sometimes. Laundry? He’s even enough for joy in the mundane household chores!
Our source for each good thing is His Life within us. We don’t grow weary and exhausted because we aren’t relying on our own resources. Why would I try to manufacture enough love for an unlovable person when He is offering it with no effort on my part to flow through me? I just need to ask and thank Him. He makes the Christian life so simple, but the price is our pride and selfishness. We have to admit we can’t do it on our own and that He has to show up or we are sunk. In humility and faith, we have access to EVERYTHING we need. That is indeed good news!
Now may the God who brought us peace by raising from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ so that he would be the Great Shepherd of his flock; and by the power of the blood of the eternal covenantmay he work perfection into every part of you giving you all that you need to fulfill your destiny. And may he express through you all that is excellent and pleasing to him through your life-union with Jesus the Anointed One who is to receive all glory forever! Amen! Hebrews 13:20-21