God does NOT make junk. He gives grace to the humble.
"And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
It's easy for me to feel overwhelmed. Then the lies start kicking in: "I'm not strong enough. I'm not good enough. It's all up to me."
Here's what so weird about the lies about being strong enough or good enough. They're true. What makes them lies is the implication that I'm supposed to be strong or good. I'm not and I really can't be. God already is and will always be good. That's why it's not all up to me.
The real heart of the issue of being overwhelmed for me is often little to do my circumstances. What is actually pride. Let me explain...
The opposite of pride is humbleness, I'm sure we all know that, and the opposite of insecurity is confidence. Which leads to the question, confidence in what?
The first possible answer is the self-confidence, but as long as you have self-confidence, you are setting yourself up for failure.
The second answer is Christ-confidence. This is where the benefit comes in, because He never fails, not His love, His plans, or His timing. Not even His creative process behind making you. It's knowing that God is higher than you that makes you humble.
So when you look at yourself and think about the people around you, and think you are some how made wrong, that's pride.
Some of the best insults are ones that we tell ourselves. When we do that. We forget grace.
Let me be clear, no where in the Bible does it say we have to forgive ourselves. When we don't live with the grace that God gives us we are telling God His grace isn't enough for us. It may be able to get us into heaven, but not enough to actually help us. It may be enough to live on, but not enough to thrive on.
This is true Christ-confidence. You know what it is? Humbleness.