John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
I saw this verses’ goal as being to remind me to let go of trying to be strong. When the Bible tells me to be as perfect or as mature as God is perfect, it does not intend me to rush out and try!(Matthew 5:48) If I rush out and try to earn my worth, secure my future and prove my strength, that is pride. When I don’t want to start or try to do the right because I know that I am too messed up, that too is pride. True I can do NOTHING without Him but I am not without Him and with him I can face any stress or loss without the fear that I might sin or betray Him. Philippians 4:13
This week I read a story of a man who had severe generalized anxiety disorder. He worried about everything, always. Then he was in an airplane that couldn’t land because the instruments signaled that the landing gear would not descend. Finally they had to try to land with the firetrucks and ambulances all lined up and ready for a crash. He felt great peace throughout the event because HE COULD DO NOTHING! They landed safely and then he started worrying again. I know of people who have only felt true peace for and hour when their spouse was undergoing heart surgery. They had called everyone and prayed, prayed, prayed AND THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE TO DO! Then their spouse came out of surgery and the peace left.
Do you see our problem? It is the DELUSION that I have at least some CONTROL that robs me of peace. Without Him I can do nothing, nada, zip! Sure, God wants me to listen, think, talk, walk, try etc. but when I do, I get tense about doing it perfectly enough for God to be able to work; tense about getting other people to see and agree; tense about the “what ifs”; tense about what I can’t control, about the part of the current situation that is none of my business.
I have found an invariable rule. IF I FEEL STRESS, rather than just feel burdened, I AM GRABBING GOD’S PART OF THE CURRENT SITUATION. I cry out to the Lord and apologize for grabbing His part and get back to yielding my body members as slaves to the Lord to work through.
I CAN DO NOTHING, SO LIGHTEN UP AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY!
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