John 15:5 (ESV) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Matthew 19:26 (ESV) But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
In reading Catherine Marshall's Adventures in Prayer, I was struck by her grasp of the powerful combination of these two scriptures. Catherine points out in the book that it is beneficial when we reach the point of helplessness in the circumstances of our lives because only then will we completely turn our lives over to the Lord in faith. As long as we hang on and hope in ourselves, faith is not realized and we will continue to depend on our own "inadequate human resources" and delay seeking what the All Sufficient One has for us. When we come to the point of acknowledging that in and of our selves "we can do nothing," then by faith "with God, all things are possible." Marshall points out that the Lord Jesus himself admitted His reliance on the Father in John 5:30, "I can do nothing on my own...I will carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will."
In what areas of our lives are we relying on own abilities and resources? Isn't it time to turn it all over to the Lord by admitting our helplessness and inadequacies? What freedom will come in that moment when we let go of it all entrusting Him to see to it!
So if your every human plan and calculation has miscarried, if one by one, human props have been knocked out, and doors have shut in your face, take heart. God is trying to get a message through to you, and the message is: "Stop depending on inadequate human resources. Let me handle the matter." ~Catherine Marshall
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