The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. Ps. 33:16-18
Dear Lord Jesus, though it’s not fun, it is a good thing to come to the end of ourselves—to be in situations where all our of resources and strength, all of our life experiences and smarts are simply not enough. Indeed, it is a gospel thing to feel the pain of realizing that whatever worked in the past is not working in the present moment; to feel the confusion of not knowing what to do next; to feel the helplessness of being out of control—to be in a place of actually needing you.
For only in those times do we abandon ourselves to the God who alone can part Red Seas (Ex. 14); who can overthrow whole Midianite armies with three hundred gun-less soldiers (Judges 7); take down Goliaths with a pebble (1 Sam. 17); feed multitudes with a few fish and pieces of bread (Matt. 14); raise a dead man for the salvation of his people and the transformation of the cosmos (1 Cor. 15). Indeed, some things happen to us that “we might not rely on ourselves but on the God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9).
Jesus, we abandon ourselves to you today, for you are that dead man who now lives. You are the One who is redeeming his bride and making all things new. It is your unfailing love that we can and must hope in. There is no other supply sufficient to the need. There is no other strength sufficient for the task. There is no other balm sufficient for the pain. There is no other rest sufficient for the exhaustion. There is no hope sufficient for the multiple issues in front of us.
We bring our broken, conflicted and wandering hearts to you. We bring our struggling marriages to you. We bring our divided churches to you. We bring our hurting friends to you. We bring our wayward children to you. We bring our unbelieving neighbors to you. We bring the needs of our community to you. We bring our crazy world to you. We bring it all to you, Jesus. We will trust in you and your unfailing love. Astonish us by bringing much glory to yourself. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.
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