Emotional reminders of our insufficiency

Today was an admittedly challenging day. I looked at our bank account. (When your unemployed this can be a discouraging thing to do.) While I know that it is God that supplies our needs sometimes I get hit with a tsunami of emotion when I contemplate the gravity of it all. After applying for what seems like hundreds of jobs one begins to feel a bit rejected. My pride quickly kicks in and begins to feel injured. Thoughts like "No one wants me", "I'm just not good enough" and "Perhaps if I had just contacted this person or that one". All of this is really an emotional roller coaster that takes off from the platform of self, climbs the mountain of pride and quickly plunges into the maddening spiral of self in the pit of pity. Thank God for His grace, and the examples that we have in His precious word. Paul talked about being buffeted by a messenger of Satan. He requested that it be taken away. God's responded that His grace was sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). God's grace is just as sufficient today. These times of my failing are valuable reminders of my insufficiency. They cause me to depend even more on Jesus. Without Him this time of challenge would be truly overwhelming. Because He has so graciously granted me a heart that desires to focus on Him, He saves me from myself. The Holy Spirit draws my eyes to my magnificent God and plants my feet on the solid rock of Jesus. If you find the trials overwhelming turn to our Lord and use our insufficiency to embrace the sufficiency that can only be found in Him.

Economic desperation...

How can a Christian respond to the economic desperation that plagues so many of us? (I speak from the position of a laid off person who is looking for work.) I use the term can respond rather than how we should respond intentionally. We all at a base level have heard how we should respond but that does not seem to always help when rubber of real life meets the road of no job. I could quote verses like Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” or Jesus words in  Matthew 6:31-32 “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” Anyone who has been a Christian for any amount of time is aware of these passages. While they provide comfort the bigger issue that we often face at times of economic turmoil is an issue that is deeper in our hearts. The core of the problem lies in where we are looking for our security. Are the securities of this world drawing my attention away from my God? Am I stressed by the things that promise to supply my needs but are temporal? God has made the world, the universe and everything in it. He knows my going out and my coming in (Psalm 121:8). If we really are His children and we live in that reality then we should depend on Him like a child does its father. The earlier verses become a potent and powerful comfort in the context of realizing that the battle of desperation is only won in the context of finding our security in God. A God focused life will seek Jesus in the middle of the desperation calling on Him to help us to find our security in Him. It is really an all out desperate grab for the hem of His garment. We need Him to be not just the end of our faith but truly the author of our faith as well. Ask Him to grant you a desire for security in Him that will eclipse the desire for the securities that this world offers. Continue to pursue the opportunities and jobs that God places before you but at the end of the day rest in Him knowing that all the outcomes are in His hands. For further reading on this topic get the free download or buy John Piper's A Hunger for God. It is an excellent resource in any situation that assaults our dependence on God.