Realizing helplessness

 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

I’ll say it again . . . I want the kingdom of heaven with no more sin, sorrow or pain; I just don’t like the ‘poor in spirit’ part.

Actually, it isn’t that bad, something like being a child without much knowledge or skill and willing to hold mom’s hand in strange places. It is something like walking into an art gallery and realizing that my efforts to paint are nowhere like those of the masters. It is like being lost and having to ask where I am and how to get to where I want to be. It is like talking to a physicist and realizing how little I know. It is also like all these things don’t bother me for pride is gone and I’m free to be childlike, helpless and humble, realizing that my Lord Jesus will supply all I need when I need it and I don’t have to whine or wish I wasn’t so destitute. It is realizing the power of God is here for me.

This is why today’s devotional can say “Poverty of spirit is a prerequisite to salvation and to victorious Christian living.” Jesus illustrates with this:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10–14)

To most, being ‘poor’ means something like the Greek definition: a person cowering in dark corners of city streets begging for handouts, without personal resources and totally dependent on the gifts of others. Yet Jesus says those who are spiritually helpless and utterly destitute of human resources are blessed. We rely totally on God’s grace for salvation and daily life, and are happy with this state of being. We taste heaven’s delights now and will experience its full glory later. Of course we are blessed!

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15)

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

For those who want heaven and its glory, the price to pay is not being ‘good enough’ but by recognizing I can never be good enough, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that is not nor ever will be the entrance requirement. Instead, it is being like the tax collector, like the child, like the beggar and the cripple, those broken in spirit and contrite of heart. Then God hears my prayers and comes to my aid . . . and then I am blessed with a taste of heaven and the certainty that I’m headed there for eternity.

Jesus, the enemy to such blessing is pride. Whenever I sense competitiveness or a desire to be the best, or even to do better, I need to remember that being weak is not a bad thing. It is evidence that I’m where I ought to be and assurance that You are hearing my pleas for grace, strength, and the ability to obey You. When I’m weak, I am strong as You say: “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Not only Your power, but Your great joy! Just keep reminding me not to let this poverty become a focus that keeps me from obeying You, for “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

REMEMBER how God’s Word speaks of pride: Proverbs 8:13; 11:2; 16:5, 18–19 and be thankful when I cannot — rather than when I can.