I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.(Romans 7:21-25)The Christian life is hard, no two ways about it. But it is especially hard when you try to do it by yourself.
In 1969 when I was in the army, the first time I did 100 pushups, I got to 99 and the more I pushed on the 100th, the closer to the ground I seemed to get. I was exhausted and had trouble doing it.
That is how it is when we try to do everything in our lives by ourselves. The more we push, the harder it is to do.
When I would talk to people in jail, they would say, “Well, when I get out of jail and get my life together, then I will come back to church.” My answer: you have had control of your life for a long time now and where are you? In jail, standing in your underwear. Have you ever thought of the fact that things have not worked out with you in charge?
If we could get our ducks in a row, our stuff all together, and our lives presentable before we came to God, we would not need him nor his grace.
But the problem is, the harder we try, the more we fail. After a while, our life is littered with the detritus of failure. It is not that we have not tried, but the world is just too strong for us.
After a while, we cry out, why can I not seem to do the right things? I try and try, but still I fail.
The answer? God and his grace. He is the one who empowers, he is the one who gives strength, he is the one that enables us to live the way we want.
When we come to him and accept his grace, he gives us his power. That power gives us the strength we can get no where else.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we float along through life perfectly capable of sinless action, like little Precious Moments angels.
But it does mean that when we fall, he will pick us up and we will try again. It means he cancels out the falling and doesn’t hold it to our account.
Our natures are just too weak. But he is strong and he will accomplish that strength in us.
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