Boasting, not Bemoaning.

“The night is dark, but I am not forsaken- for by my side, the Savior he will stay, I labor on in weakness and rejoicing- for in my need,
his power is displayed.”

Have you ever felt like you were tripping over life?
Stumbling, tumbling and bumbling, as you watch others
racing, bolting and running.
You ache in jealousy, feeling inferior and inadequate.
Why does everything you do seems harder than it should be?
There’s a curve in the road when you thought it’d be straight.
There’s rocks and thorns and fog and rain.
As others glide by effortlessly, you lose your footing.
Inconveniences and roadblocks happen so frequently,
you almost start expecting them.
You have nothing to show for your effort but exhaustion.
And after tripping for miles, you begin to lose heart.

What do you do when you find yourself in this place?
Afraid to take another step as others pass you by…
Discouraged. Defeated. Overwhelmed.

My natural reaction is to complain.
And to despair.

I don’t like tripping over life.
I like to be fully confident in my footing before I even take a step.
I like to be in control.

It’s a funny thing when we’re in control though.

When we’re in control, we get the glory.
But when we’re tripping over life, we start looking beyond ourselves.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says

“Thus says the Lord “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this- that he understands and knows me, that I AM THE LORD.”

At first glance, it would appear that this verse only applies to those who feel wise and strong and rich.
But it also applies to those who feel poor and weak and stupid.

This verse humbles the proud and yet lifts up the humble because it gives us something to boast about besides ourselves.

When we’re feeling inadequate and inferior, we can rest in the fact
that in a sense- we are supposed to.
We’re not meant to rely on our own abilities and
we’re not meant to find worth in our works.
We aren’t strong enough to save ourselves and
we aren’t all powerful and all knowing.

But instead of bemoaning our weaknesses, strangely,

WE CAN BOAST IN THEM.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says
“And 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 on me.”

When was the last time, like Paul,
you boasted GLADLY in your weaknesses?
I don’t know about you but I spend a lot of time being ashamed of my weakness and wasting energy pretending I don’t have any.
And when I do recognize my weakness for what it is, I fall into despair and discouragement.

But it is grace that God offers, not perfection.
And it is himself that he gives us- to boast in.

It’s not easy to smile when you’re tripping over life.
In a sense it feels foolish.

But as 1 Corinthians 1:27 says,
“God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

I don’t understand the ins and outs of boasting in my weakness.
It is completely foreign to my nature.

But instead of giving into despair, crying “What am I going to do?”
I want to lift my eyes to heaven and shout “Look what my God will do!”
Instead of seeing my inadequacies as setbacks, I want to view them as set ups- for Gods power to be seen.
Instead of bemoaning my weakness, I want to boast in Gods strength.

I don’t know what it is that has you stumbling over life.
Or perhaps you’re one of the runners leaving the rest of us behind.
Either way, don’t let your strength- or your lack of it-
control your attitude.

It is wrong to be prideful, but it’s also wrong to be pessimistic.
Lets get our eyes off ourselves and find our confidence in HIM.

“To this I hold- my shepherd will defend me. Through the deepest valley, he will lead. Oh the night has been won, and I shall overcome-
yet not I, but through Christ in me.”