Helpless

THIS WEEK I am swamped. It's the week before spring break, and I have a lot of work to do in very little time. A major project is due the same day as a test in a class that only has about three grades in the semester. And I went home yesterday for my sister's birthday party, so I don't have a lot of time.

I don't want to do my work. I want to go home early and sleep. But I have to do this, because this is what God has given me to be responsible for. My school work is my job. Do you ever feel like there is simply too much for you to handle? If you do, that's good. It means you have the chance to learn something from God.

The whole point of the gospel, the Good News, is God's grace - how His love for us, His giving His Son for us, enables us to love Him back and to love the other people He loves. The whole point of grace is that it isn't our doing. I've been seeing this all week as I've read through Romans, and Pastor Mike talked about it this morning. God wants us to rely on Him, for everything.

Paul spells it out in Ephesians 2:8-9. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Nearly very religion in the world focuses on us: what can we do, be, say, eat, refrain from, give, in order to be nearer to the divine or to gain merit for ourselves? The difference about grace is that God came to us because we couldn't be good enough to get to Him. But you see, He made sure that there is no way that we, understanding the meaning of His grace, could also pride ourselves on having earned salvation in any sense. He designed salvation so that it is totally reliant on Him, and all we have to do is let Him save us and follow Him. It's very simple, but it is very difficult for us to accept.

We say, "God, are You sure? Can I help pay for this?" And He says He has paid it all. There was no greater price to pay, and He spared no expense to reach toward us in love.

We don't always want to accept the gift as free. We want to feel like we did something to get ourselves to the top. But we can't - not with this God who wants to show us His faithfulness through our helplessness. When we have been saved for a while, often we need to be reminded that we are no less helpless than we have ever been. I feel like moments like these, when all I can do to help my situation is pray and obey, are meant to help us give ourselves to God further.

God wants us to rely on Him for our salvation, for the words to communicate our faith, for guidance in our relationships, even for time management. As students, my friends and I make time management a standing prayer request. It's not because we are stressed out and need to make ourselves feel better by praying. It's because we know that if we bring anything to God and lay it at His feet, He will honor that and guide us in our concerns. He is our Father and He wants to help us.

But if we rely on ourselves, where do we get? We don't get close to God. We could get selfish and proud, or when we fail we could become disillusioned and lonely. We could make all our dreams come true and find that something is missing, or we could lose all our dreams and be full of bitterness. Or we could even wear ourselves thin in body and soul, getting anxious trying to carry all the weight, not thinking our problems are worth God's time, while He continually says to lay our burdens on Him.

Jesus urges us to place our trust in Him in Matthew 11:28-30, saying "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

That's what I'm going to do with this week. I know having a lot to do and not very much time is not the worst problem to have. God knows it too. But it doesn't mean He doesn't care. I've heard of and experienced Him answering prayers over anything from cancer to a missing contact. The responsibilities of this week are too big for me to manage by myself, but God is bigger.

1 Peter 5:6-7 "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

We will be truly strong, even unstoppable, if we realize that God is the sole source of our strength and humble ourselves before Him.