Friday: Discovering Our Own Powers or God’s?
WEEK 23
FRIDAY
DISCOVERING OUR OWN POWERS OR HIS?
2 Corinthians 3:4-6
This adequacy in these early disciples was not a discovery of inherent resources within themselves, as some modern emphases assert. Of course, there is some truth in discovering hidden resources within oneself. Most of us are running on half cylinders, calling on half our resources within—mental, physical, spiritual. But the real reason for not using every one of our hidden powers is that what powers we have are not coordinated, not related to anything significant, and hence at war with one another, canceling one another out. Coordination comes from the surrender of ourselves and our powers to something beyond us. That breaks the self-preoccupation of each of our urges and centers them on something beyond each. The only center to which we can surrender is God.
The moment we make that surrender, we attach ourselves to a Source of power beyond ourselves. That puts us in our right place—dependent. But if the end of religion is to tap resources within yourself and develop them, that leaves you centered on yourself—independent. One produces humility and an acceptance of grace; the other produces self-righteousness and pride and a subtle parading of one’s own powers. As a consequence there are no powers, just weakness and a parroting of phrases. I have never seen people who talked about developing the hidden resources within who impressed me with having any special powers. They have a philosophy but no fact. It is a verbalism. They become intoxicated with the wine of their own wordiness and think it reality. But it is an unreal world of words. The words become deflated by the pressures of life, and the philosophies won’t work. The initial shot in the arm dies down and leaves them with deflated powers and as deflated persons. It is lifting oneself by the bootstraps.
But here in the Acts they were discovering, not their own powers, but God’s power. The source and center was in God. That put them in their place—subordinate.
O God, you put us in a dependent place only to make us more perfectly ourselves; for the more we have you, the more we have ourselves. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: My eyes are on God and God’s resources; therefore I am in my right place—dependent.