God’s Role Vs Our Role
This week I am at my family’s house in San Diego, California just resting and relaxing. I couldn’t help but observe something very interesting. My cousin who is 5, hurt his foot playing on the trampoline. Well, he is incredibly afraid to walk on it. Every time my aunt encourages him to walk on it, he starts to cry. He gets so afraid and because of fear, he has disqualified himself to walk.
How much do we do that on a day to day basis? We disqualify ourselves from doing something just because it hurts a little bit & fear.
Anyways,
What I noticed was that my aunt was holding him the whole time. She was holding his hand and his back while he was sobbing and wobbling to the couch. I instantly thought that’s how our Father is with us. He has us do something, but we are filled with fear. We cry because it’s painful. But…He is there with us. He is there holding us, speaking words of encouragement to us, holding our hand so we don’t fall. I look at my little cousin and think to myself, “there is no reason that he should be so filled with fear right now! He is being held, he won’t fall.” Yet, I don’t think about that with my own life sometimes.
Jesus is holding us up every second, every moment. So why do we fear? Why do we get fearful? Why do we let the pain keep us from pushing through?
Because we think we need to protect ourselves. We are aware of what could happen if our strength isn’t enough. My cousin who is 5, is aware of his lack, his pain, and his need for his parent’s help. Which tells me one thing: we are born being reliant on someone else. We are born not being enough. We are born with the knowledge that we need help.
But as time progresses, we get prideful thinking we can do it ourselves. We stop asking for help because we don’t want to appear weak. But friend, that will never work. That will get REAL old REAL fast. That mindset won’t be sustaining. That mindset will actually cause you to have even more fear. Because you were designed to be reliant on the Father.
There is a popular term that our society likes to push on us, “you are enough!” But friend, this is horribly toxic. I am not enough. You are not enough.
Psalm 46:1-3, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.”
Notice how it doesn’t say “We will not fear because we are enough.”
Notice how it doesn’t say, “We will not fear because we can handle it.”
No, it says because He is our refuge and strength, we will not fear.”
I wonder how much our stress and anxiety would leave if we truly understood our role and His role. If we understood that we actually weren’t designed to “hold it all” or “handle it all” or “carry it all.” But instead, we walked in the confidence of knowing His role as our refuge and our strength.
I don’t know about you, but it is completely liberating and freeing knowing that He is the one who is enough and that I don’t need to pretend that I am. Because He is enough and worthy, I don’t need to strive to be. But in His perfection, in His grace, in His forgiveness, and in His love, He says I am enough.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
One of my good friends the other day called me and was just crying and crying. She said, “ I just don’t want to be weak.”
I think this is completely and 100% normal to feel. But friend. You are limiting so much of Christ’s glory, power and love to be revealed not only to you but through you. When you try and have it all together, you are limiting God. 2 Timothy 1:7, “For you have a spirit, not of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.”
This scripture is talking about the spirit of God that dwells in us. Not our flesh. So when we walk in our flesh, we walk in fear. We walk in fear because we are not enough and have to provide for ourselves. But when we walk in the Spirit of God that dwells in us, we walk in power, love, and self-control. This comes with denying ourselves and knowing God’s place in our life vs Ours.
Here are some tangible steps of growing in Trust for the Lord:
Start saying yes to the Lord. Big or Small opportunities. Especially the small, because when you see the Lord be consistent in the small, you will know that He can be faithful in the big.
Memorize a few verses and in moments of doubt or fear, declare those over yourself. Remind yourself of what you may have forgotten.
Write out a list of characteristics of God you see in scripture and write out when you have seen that characteristic play out in your own life. This builds your faith because you know if He has done it before, you bet He’s going to do it again!
Read scripture more than ever so you can be confident of who you are putting your trust into.