Editor’s note: This article originally appeared at Mark Hallock’s blog, preachleadlove.com
We need God.
We need Him desperately.
The thing is, not everyone believes this is true. Maybe you, or someone you know and love, falls into this camp.
Not long ago, I was visiting with a young guy who would strongly disagree with me on this. He had once claimed to be a Christian but had recently walked away from God. When I asked why he chose to walk away, he simply said he didn’t believe he really needed God at this point in his life. He honestly felt he was just fine, as he put it, without all of that “church and Jesus stuff.”
Of course, I have had this same sort of conversation with many men and women over the years, so nothing he said surprised me. But as I listened to him, it sure made me sad.
Sad for him.
Sad for his wife.
Sad for his young children.
It made me sad because this sweet guy needs the Lord more than he can imagine, yet at this moment in time, he truly believes he is better off without Him. That he is better off without his Maker. Better off without the One who formed Him in his mother’s womb and knows every hair on his head.
Of course, this is the posture of every one of us, apart from the mercy of God. Apart from His work of grace in humbling us, opening our eyes, convicting our hearts, and drawing us to Himself.
Only God can make us see our deep need for Him.
Only God can cause us to see that Jesus alone is our wonderful Savior to be loved and obeyed and worshipped and treasured above all other things.
Only God can give us new hearts that recognize we are nothing apart from Him, that He alone is our hope both for this life and the life to come.
And only God and God alone can comfort us and sustain us in the midst of our deepest pain and suffering this side of heaven.
You see, what my friend doesn’t realize at this moment in his life is that while things are going great for him right now, at some point this will change.
It will. Things will change. In a sinful, broken world like ours, the unexpected can happen at any moment. Tragedy and heartbreak have a way of blindsiding us.
You see, like each of us, the time will come when my friend comes face to face with the reality that he actually is in desperate need for God and His grace. He is in desperate need for His mercy. His love. His power. His presence.
Friends, life is so fragile. We are so weak. We just are. And that is OK.
It’s OK because the good news of the gospel is that our God specializes in saving the weak and rescuing the powerless. Contrary to popular belief, God doesn’t help those who help themselves, He helps those who know they can’t help themselves. God helps those who humble themselves.
The Lord loves humility in His people.
When we look at the Scriptures, we see passages all over the place that echo James 4:6, which reads: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
My encouragement is for us to humble ourselves before the Lord today that we might receive the grace we each so desperately need. Not tomorrow. Not next week or next month or next year. Today.
Friend, Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, the Savior of the world, humbled himself to the point of death on a cross 2,000 years ago. He did this out of love for you. He did this that you might be saved and redeemed. That you might have hope in a world that is hard and at times really scary. This is the undeserved grace and mercy of God for you.
You desperately need God. So do I.
He is calling us to come.
Let us run to Him and find life.,
Published May 22, 2019
