By Janet Keefe
“This will never work.” I told my friend. I don’t mean to be a cynic, but I know myself. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 7:15, so many times I have tried to do things right, only to do the things I don’t want to do. And I manage very well to avoid doing the things I ought to do. I get sideswiped, sometimes by my own disorganization, fatigue, selfishness, even my general sloppiness. Sometimes, it’s a blindsiding that thwarts my noblest of intentions; a deflated tire when I wanted to be early for an appointment or being there for a friend. When I started working to improve my health with a weight loss program, I knew it was futile and I would fail. When I started serving the church with my artwork, I knew I would be a disappointment. But, something miraculous happened. God took these things over. He gave me His strength, His blessing. His hope. I was not doing these things in my own strength. And, it’s a good thing, too!
God changed my futile endeavors and hopeless longings into His work. Like He has done so many times in the Bible, He has loved and used this wretched and weary vessel to display His glory. And I can laugh and revel at the improbability of it all, and I can boast that the things I do are not of myself, but of God. I do not have to rely on my own fragile abilities, but in His strength.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
