I Can’t!

I am not proud to say this, but it has taken me almost 30 years to realize that “I Can’t!”

I’ve known this truth somewhere down in my inner self, but I still have continued to try to solve some of my own problems in my own strength.

And that’s why I still fail over and over in certain areas of my life. Just about the time, I think I’m becoming a better “me”. A situation comes along and I find myself in the “uh-oh- I made a mess of that” category.

But lately, I’ve been discovering that I’ve still been trying to do things in my own power while asking for God’s help. Here’s an example from my personal life. I would pray something like, “Lord, help me to control my tongue and the words that come out of my mouth.” While that’s not necessarily a wrong prayer to desire, the emphasis is on me doing the work.

What I’m now discovering is that I’ve been needing to ask God to take over in these situations, and let me abide in Him. He is enough to get the job done if I am filled with His Spirit.

He will give me the words to speak, or the hope to share, or the joy in a trial, only when I have spent time with Him in prayer, studying His Word, or while meditating on truth from His Word.

Do you see the difference?

If we spend time with God, we will respond out of the overflow of His Spirit, not ours.

That’s why Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20 are so powerful!

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20 (NASB)

See the difference in these words. The emphasis is on me humbling myself so that Christ’s truths come out of my life. “I have been crucified with Christ”—I am no longer serving myself and I am taking on the mind of Christ. I am trying to live with the power of the Spirit who lives in me.

The world doesn’t need a better, new, and improved version of Julie. The world needs a woman who has humbled herself so the truths of Christ flow out instead.

I don’t know if anyone else needed this aha moment as much as I did, but I have discovered it’s never too late to discover areas in our lives that need “fixin!” (Spoken in my best southern accent.)

You know what else?

God is a great redeemer. He will transform your life if you let Him!