This time, I want to bring you this thought from a sermon I remember by Bishop T. D. Jakes. While expounding on the story of the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus, Bishop mentioned that although the father had come to Him asking for healing, he cried out to help his unbelief.
It is intriguing that every one of us has had to deal with this deep internal conflict. The new believer in Christ and the old; the prophet and the preacher; all of us struggle with dry bones in the valley. We have our high tides and our lowest of lows. Times when faith seems to be shaken with zillions of doubts. We have our own Peter moments of walking on the water and then going under in another.
Let us face these internal conflicts. We are not perfect. We are still works in progress. We cannot run away or be self-righteous. Neither can we let the enemy of our soul steal the joy of the Holy Spirit from us.
Paul the Apostle cried out saying, “I do what I don’t want to and do not what I want to.” The truth is that our internal conflicts are nailed to the cross only by absolute surrender to Jesus. Begin by praying “Lord, let me grow in spiritual maturity every day. Create in me a clean heart and renew my spirit.” This is a daily process.
We survive and thrive in the presence of Jesus. It is this process of breaking and moulding that keeps us humble. Most of all, this teaches us to be forever dependent on His great mercy and grace.
If there is one person that understands us wholly more than our parents, spouse or best friends, He is Jesus. And He understands our frailty completely. It is in our weakness that His strength is made manifest. It is in our helplessness that Jesus is the closest.
Silence your heart from the clamour of this world and you will begin to hear the whispers of His love. The only place that our weakness counts is in His presence where through our continual surrender, His strength is magnified in our lives.
The enemy would like to bring you to your knees with internal friction and to whisper lies of rejection into your ears. The Bible says, “Resist the devil and he will flee.” Remember that you have been bought by the blood of the Lamb and you belong only to Jesus. Keep getting back up.
Every time your strength fails within you, Jesus stands by the right hand of the Father interceding for you. Open your heart to Him and let His love flow and break every yoke of the enemy. Take time today to thank Jesus and soak in His love.
His love makes us complete.
Share with us some of your sinking moments. What gives you strength to get back up and return to Jesus?