The In My Dorm Writing Space

I hope you wrestle over this devotional. I am praying for you during these 21 days and hope you find some value and growth in these words.

God bless,

— Michael Johnson

Central text to be familiar with: Psalm 51

A constant struggle that I perceive in the church today, particularly among young adults and youth, is a persistent need to rid ourselves of our weaknesses. Whether that be emotional vulnerability, addiction, jealousy, introvertedness, emotional distress, etc., we constantly go through a painstaking process of identifying weaknesses in our lives that might not even be weaknesses, and consequently, we try to mask them with a facade of “personality.” We dismiss the weakness as a cancer that we ought not to have. Especially in seasons of fasting, I find myself overfixating on areas of sin, or even areas that make me less socially likable, and focusing heavily on ridding myself of them.

Yet, when we look at psalms like Psalm 51, we see an interesting perspective regarding sin, transgression, and weakness. The psalmist is aware of his sinful nature but turns to God in response to that awareness. In this moment, you probably assume the direction of this devotional is heading toward the typical surrender, “give it to God” type lesson. Not disparaging surrender, but that is not the direction I am going.

I want to emphasize the fact that the psalmist turned to God in song, lament, cry, and distress because of his awareness of his weakness. It introduces the question: would God prefer us not have weakness if it means we wouldn’t be drawn to Him? I believe the answer is no. Maybe the reason we have weakness is to be drawn closer to God. Maybe our job, as the psalmist exemplified, isn’t to combat our weakness, but to realize just how weak we are. Because only when we realize how weak and helpless we are are we drawn to real, vulnerable moments with the Creator of the universe. It reminds me of another psalmist’s words: “Just as the deer cries for the water, so my soul cries for God” (Psalm 42).

So, in conclusion, as we are drawn to God in response to our awareness of issues, problems, and sin, maybe that is when real deliverance, freedom, and remedy are provided—when we turn not to our own strength, but His. Weakness isn’t our problem; not realizing how weak we are, is. And just maybe, as we start to turn to Him amidst weakness, we will find that some of our “weaknesses,” aren’t weaknesses at all. But God given blessings that make us who we are. 

Prayer:

God, I love and adore You. Thank You for being what tomorrow demands. Do not let that reality fall from my mind. Thank You for providing the strength I need to rely on You. Do not let that reliance slip away from me. Always remind me of just how weak I am so I never fail to lean on You. Do not let me resort to dealing with my problems by myself or in my own strength. But let my awareness of my problems be even more of a reason to seek and find You. Let my remedy for life being life, be You. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

CC: I found significant inspiration for this devotional in one of Paul Washer’s sermons. I would highly recommend checking out his content during this season of fasting and prayer.