October 28

“If you feel strong in an area of your life, beware!  Often your strength, rather than your weakness, hinders you from trusting God.  God will bring you to a point of weakness if that is what it takes to bring you to trust in Him.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 10/9

What are my strengths and the resulting weakness?  I was born with physical beauty and I have a progressing curvature of the spine.  I am intelligent and I my mind creates anxiety for me.  I am a survivor of an abusive childhood and I suffer from bouts of depression.  Each of the above resulting weaknesses has been instrumental in bringing me to where I am in my ability to trust God.  If I had not had these afflictions to deal with I am sure my beauty, intelligence, and survivor mentality would have led me down a path of self-sufficiency that I may never have been able to exit.  Why would I have needed to?  This world rewards each of those qualities, and I would have more than likely created a world for myself that suited me just fine.  Instead I’ve used my survivor skills to dig deeper into God’s word and His plan for me.  I’ve been tenacious about not settling for less than God’s best for me, which is freedom in Christ.  I thank God for loving me so much that He refuses to abandon me when I’m struggling the most.  This includes those times I am rebelling against His loving instruction.

“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”  Romans 8:7, 8