Give Up To Win

“Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.” (Ps 6:2 AV)

This verse is both transparent and honest.  The context in which David makes this request is his struggle with sin.  He admits he is not as strong as he wishes he was.  Verse one asks that God be not angry with him.  That is also a good thing to desire.  The place David is right now is a good place to be.  That is, having sinned against the LORD.  David admits something we all need to admit.  He comes to terms with how weak he is against sin, and how weak he is because of it.  Knowing one’s limits is the first step in overcoming any challenge.  When it comes to sin, we must come to terms we cannot fight it on our own.  We don’t have the ability.  Our flesh, heart, and minds desire what they cannot have.  The natural man will fall when confronted with a choice to do wrong.  As we mature, this becomes less of a reality.  But the inclination towards sin is still present.  It is a consequence of Adam’s sin which he passed down to us all.  The old man was crucified with Christ.  Yet it is not destroyed.  The crucifixion of the old man is so that it might be destroyed.  As long as it hangs around, there will be battles.  The more hopeless we realize that we are, the easier it is for the Holy Spirit to empower us to overcome.

Living with an injury or recovering from surgery is an experience in adaptation.  One must learn what can be done differently versus what cannot be done at all.  I am a bad patient.  I hate relying on others to help me do what I need to do.  Several years ago, I was recovering from shoulder surgery.  I had a three-inch bone spur filed off my left should bones as well as some length removed because the bones had grown longer to compensate for the spur.  During the first few weeks of recovery, my shoulder was to remain completely immobile.  My arm was placed in this weird sling that was then strapped around my chest.  For the first week, I could not take it off even to take a shower.  My wife was in her glory!  She wanted to fuss over me more than I could endure.  As I said, I don’t like to be dotted upon.  I want to do things on my own.  She would not have it.  I wouldn’t either.  That is until my dear mother-in-law set me straight.  She gave me the fifth degree of how I was being a bit pig-headed by not allowing my wife to help me with things I could not do on my own.  It is a hard thing to admit you are helpless.  I had to learn a lesson about how helpless I truly was before I could get the help that I needed.

The same is true with our struggle over sin.  We are helpless.  We need the ministry of the Holy Spirit far more than we are willing to admit.  Paul was quick to confess this towards the end of his ministry.  Romans chapter seven is Paul’s verbalization of his battle with sin.  It is a classic expression of what the saint feels when he is faced with the reality of his limited ability to live a holy life.  He could not do it on his own.  He didn’t have the will to do it.  He knew if he was going to live a life of godliness to the glory of the Father, then it could only be done by the intervention of Jesus Christ and the empowerment that comes from the Holy Spirit.  We often fail because we will not admit we cannot accomplish what we know we need to do.  We fail because we are trying to live right by our own strength.  This simply will not work.  We speak of full surrender.  Maybe we need to surrender to the fact that surrender is the beginning of victory.  One of the many sacred oxymorons of the word of God.  To be victorious, we need to give up.  This was where David was.  This is where Paul was.  This is where we need to be.

P.S.  Two ladies are in a dead heat!  Each signed up three new followers.  They have the end of this coming Sunday to sign up more!  Help you favorite Pastor's Wife past the finish line.  Become a follower by clicking the blue 'follow' button to the right, or if viewing on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom, click on 'view web version' and then find the blue 'follow' button.  Who will win the $20 gift card?  Ms. Lisa or Ms. PB?  It's all up to you!