In Touch with My Weakness

I need to keep in touch with my depravity and my weakness. But when I am honest about the depth of my sinfulness, it shouldn't lead to a pity-party or a spurt of self-help, bootstrap Christianity--"I'll do better." Instead, it should lead to a celebration of praise for the wonder of God's grace and forgiveness. And a confidence in His ability to save anyone and to bring any wayward Christian to repentance. When I am in touch with my weakness, it causes me to rely solely on His sufficient, inexhaustible grace for my spiritual strength and daily walk. After all, it was to a church with the most problems--a carnality fostered by spiritual pride--that Paul emphasized the necessity of weakness--the spiritual power that only embracing our weakness can accomplish. Even when I feel stagnant or far away from God I am not. "Underneath are the Everlasting Arms." I can fall no farther than into my Father's seeking, loving, and protecting embrace. He seeks the sheep who has wandered away and lifts him into His arms to gently bring him back to the fellowship of the fold. It may very well be that when I think that I am farther away from God than I have ever been, that, in actuality, I've never been closer. He is ready this moment to catch me and bring me home in His omnipotent, loving embrace.