When we are ravaged by the storms of life and our prayers go unanswered many will suffer defeat by the hands of the enemy. In an attempt to stand firm in their own strength they break as easily as a … reed bending in the wind or they aimlessly sink into non-resistance of dispirited resignation. In either case they are firmly defeated by the devil. We can no more fight the devil on our own terms as we can pretend that he doesn’t exist. As we fast approach the end of days we have seen an increase in demonic activity to a scale not seen since the first century. I find it interesting that with the increase in demonic activity we also see a correlative increase in spiritual pride among Christians perhaps exceeding that of the first century Pharisee. We have more professed Apostles and prophets in the 21st century than we ever did in the first. As spiritual pride increases so does demonic attacks causing unnatural behavior by those who claim to be godly driving a deeper wedge between Christians of every stripe. Their behavior is much like the adolescent who thinks he knows everything only to discover years later that he really knew nothing. So the first order of business is whole-hearted repentance in the church. To do so may not bring immediate relief from the attacks of Satan but would sure put you in line for God’s un-matchless grace.
How sufficient is this grace? It is beyond measure and is calculated to the same degree that we are willing to humble ourselves before God and man. To do so we must approach the mystery of godliness with open and teachable hearts that we can’t, but He can; and if we won’t He will. The battle belongs to the Lord! As we face the storms of life and the vicious attacks of the enemy we must stand in His strength, not ours. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Eph. 6:10). Therein lies the grace of God, when we are weak then He is strong. Have you been humbled by the storms of this life or are you still fighting them on your own strength. Have the attacks of Satan opened your eyes to your weakness or are you still shouting at the devil in your spiritual pride. To access the grace of God we must learn that when we are weak then we can be made strong in Him. This is difficult. We live in a day of total independence with an array of self-help books in both the secular and spiritual realm. We learn from early childhood that we must take responsibility for our own life which means pulling up your own bootstraps and depending on no one but self. Even with the social programs that teach dependence on the state most have learned the system and still pull up their own bootstraps by manipulating the system to get more than their fair share.
But when we come to Christ this should all change. We have been saved by grace through faith, not by works lest anyone should boast. It is unmerited favor, which means we did not do anything to earn or deserve it. It’s absolutely free! How did we access this grace? We accessed it through faith and faith is total dependence on God. We can’t, but He can – the mystery of godliness. Therefore, we stand firm against the storms of life or the attacks of the devil not in our strength, which always magnifies our spiritual pride, but in the strength of the Lord. The more we surrender to the Lord the stronger He becomes. “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Corinthians 12:10b). Now for some practical application; when I sit at this laptop typing this blog it can become a very laborious event using my whole mind, my memory of Scripture, my knowledge of world events, and bringing many other factors together to develop this masterpiece and it would be totally useless and ready for the trash heap. On the other hand I can wait upon the Lord. Whoever said waiting is easy! Agonizingly wait and totally depend on Him to bring forth the words which by the world’s standards it’s not worth anything but by God’s standards it’s worth everything. I can’t, but He can! We just need to learn to depend on His grace which is all sufficient.
We can multiply this example into every area of our life. Whatever you are going through, God’s grace is sufficient. Our inability to deal with life’s problems or our proverbial “thorn in the flesh” should lead us to get off our spiritual pedestal by admitting that we have no power in ourselves to do anything. Then we are ready to receive the grace of God to withstand whatever the world can throw at us. We are ready to learn how to stand firm in a perilous world and against an unseen enemy bent on our destruction. Listen to the Apostle Paul, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Corinthians 12:10). In our total dependence upon Christ in His mission to a lost world we won’t turn back in fear like the young Mark, but continue on in the strength of the Lord. To the same degree we are willing to humble ourselves before God and man will be the same degree that God is willing to work in and through us with His mighty power. Do you want power to defeat the forces of evil and stand firm in the coming day, then access God’s grace. You will soon discover that God’s grace is sufficient because His power is made perfect in our weakness.
Copyright © 2012 Rev. Daniel W. Blair – All content (blog articles) have been published in my new book: “Revelation Truth” available in our bookstore or at a bookstore near you.