"In My Weakness"

"Bread of life, pure living water; Lover of my soul,
In my weakness be my strength to reach the final goal.

Lamb of God, dear hope of glory, Savior crucified,
By your blood I am redeemed, my debt now satisfied!

Though they slay me, though I fall; in darkness You are light!
Jesus, I will keep my eyes on you 'till my faith becomes sight!

Precious, holy, Lord and King, so full of love and grace.
Though I live, or though I die, I rest in your embrace."

-Lucinda Bateman (1877)

This song circled through my head this morning as I was pondering recent events in life. Lately, I have been struggling with not really feeling God’s power in my life, and feeling like a total failure because I am not some über man of God after a few years of being a Christian.

God never promised instant advancement in this war. He told us simply to follow him, and that we were to be soldiers. “Endure hardness...” That does not really sound inclusive of being “carried to the skies on flow’ry beds of ease.” It also never was promised that we would be coddled and protected the whole way to heaven. Yes, we are promised: “Lo, I am with you alway; even to the end of the world,” but that is not saying that we will ALWAYS have the feeling that God is there. There are times of dryness, times of testing, and times where we may wonder what is wrong… Don’t you think Paul and Silas may have felt rather blue as they awaited their sentence in the prison house? What about all the disciples at certain times? How did they feel when Jesus was securely buried in the tomb?

It was not in vain that our Lord said: “In the world, ye shall have tribulation, but fear not, I have overcome the world.” Our Lord is with us; He will save us, but we MUST NEVER lose faith, ‘sight,’ and trust in our captain.

I think we forget how much that Jesus truly loves us. At least I do. I get this horrific idea that somehow Jesus is so busy with other better Christians, and he doesn't have time for those like me, who just don't quite hit the mark every time. No, NO, NO!. We are weak, but in our weakness, he is made strong. It is only through the blood of HIS death that we are justified in the sight of God. Remember, our debt is SATISFIED because of the suffering of Jesus, who LOVED us! That is so incredible!

That simple little song is so full of meat; it's incredible. And the tune is almost the same way. Very simple, but incredibly beauteous in how she arranged the structure.

“Though I live, or though I die, I rest in your embrace.”