In Weakness and Weariness

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Isaiah 40:29 (New American Standard Bible)

I have several devotional books that are written as if Jesus is doing the talking. They are part of my spiritual sustenance each morning and never fail to speak works I long to hear. This morning was no exception as I opened the book Jesus Calling and read, My power flows most freely into weak ones aware of their need for Me. Faltering steps of dependence are not lack of faith; they are links to my Presence.

It took years for me to understand and embrace Jesus’ invitation when He said, “Come to Me all of you who are weary and heavy laden.” Weariness has the idea of being fatigued or exhausted due to wearisome effort. Jesus is saying, “When you have reached that point, come to Me. When you have exhausted your means, your strength, your initiative, your ability, your stamina, your determination, come to Me. I will give you strength. I will increase your power. I will give you the ability to recover and collect that strength and power.”

What I had to realize is that Jesus is not repulsed by my weakness and weariness. They are the very things that He uses to show me my own need of Him. He is continually inviting me to live my life out of interaction with Him whereby I see my need and bring it to Him. This is not just physical needs. It is ANY need, whether that means physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, or social. What I cannot muster up on my own or receive from another person is what I need to look to Him for. The more I do that the less I will be desiring to find it in myself or others.

Living my Christian life with the attitude that I must present to God a perfected, strong, stable, boundless façade, is a pretense that has disastrous results. Any time I refuse to admit the truth about myself and what is really going on inside of me and refuse to bring all of it to the One who loves me and wants to help me, I am in trouble.

Change has come as I have begun to see God’s loving heart and my needy heart. The biggest issue He has had to walk me through has been in the area of emotional dependency. As painful as it was for me to see myself so raw, so broken, and so needy, it has been a time of knowing God like I have never known Him. Admitting the truth about myself has opened the door to seeing the truth about God. I am in awe!

Father, I am learning to stand before You stripped of all pretense and self-imposed improvements. Your receiving of me as I am is precious and powerful. I love You! Amen.