LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Everything Depends upon God
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:18-19, KJV).
If souls would be honest, many would confess that this has been their condition for years – a condition which brings no glory to God and no happiness to themselves.
What is the cause? Simply the mistake of thinking that all depends upon their own efforts instead of accepting the truth that they are utterly without strength, and that, therefore, everything depends upon God.
You have fought with your foes again and again with undaunt¬ed courage, but you have never gained the victory. Pause, for a moment, and ask this simple question: What am I to learn by this sorrowful experiment? It is that the enemy is too strong for you, and that you cannot cope with his power.
If you continue upon the present line of effort it is only to court defeat in the future as in the past. Your case is, as far as your own strength is concerned, hopeless.
If, on the other hand, you come to the end of your own strength, it will bring rest to your soul, because you will understand that your help, strength and succor come from Christ and not from yourselves.
Oh, the unspeakable blessedness of such a discovery! Ceasing henceforward to struggle, you will know what it is to rest in Another, and to take up the song of David, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” (Edward Dennett).