Having preached on this subject Sunday, I can’t get it off my mind, I was thrilled when I received this message from Dr. Paul Chappell. I hope it is an encouragement to you as well:
“For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”–2 Corinthians 12:8–10
Someone said that the three hardest words to say in the English language are, “I need help.” We don’t like to say those words because we don’t like having to admit that we don’t have everything under control. The world (and sadly sometimes the church) places a great premium on having everything together. As the old commercial put it, the prevailing attitude is, “Never let them see you sweat.” Yet in truth, all of us face trials and troubles that are beyond our ability to resolve. We must have Divine help—and that requires an admission that we need help in the first place.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. Then He illustrated what our attitude in prayer should be with the story of a man who unexpectedly had company arrive late at night and was forced to ask his neighbor for help: “For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?” (Luke 11:6).
How hard is it for us to say to God “I have nothing”? But unless and until we reach that point, we will not receive His help. God had Gideon send home more than thirty thousand soldiers until only three hundred remained. With that small group, God worked a miracle of deliverance and victory (Judges 7). When we reach the end of ourselves and God is involved, nothing is impossible.
