St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-08-17
WHY am I Ever WeakP

Alas l often am My prayers seem
to lack power with God; my words
lack power with man. Affections drag
me down: temptations cast me down !;
and when | would seek to lift up Others
heavenwards with me, my feeble spirit
is forced dOwnwards by the stronger
earthly tendency of theirs. Oh why is
it that | am so weak
Now | have no need to be weak.
True, in myself | am utterly without
strength" and ''can do nothing" Apart
from Christ. am helpless beyond the
power of words, to describe. But then
i am not apart from Christ. | am a
member of his body and often, often
do | sweetly experience his gracious
presence in my soul. His strength is
my strength lisa, xiv. "a y nay, he him
self is my strength, who is ''Christ the
power of God" q Cor. i 24.) In my
proper place, and for doing the work
to which he calls me, all his infinite re-
sources are as available for me as if
they had been stored up in my own
bosom. In truth, Il can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me"
philip. iv. 49, How foolish, then, for
me to be so weak J
But more, have no right to be weak.
God means me to be strong. He charges
me to be stroug. He has made pro-
vision for my constant strength. He
has given me work to do that needs a
strong man for, when suffering, | am
called to suffer according to the power
of Godn e Tim. |. s y or, when fight
ing, to fight even with the ''power of
his might" (Eph. vi. 10. What sin it
is to be weak.
For, after all, the true question is,
not one abOu my weakness, but about
his strength. am not sent warfare
on mine own charges, but | am called
unto the fellowship of the Son of God
Il Cor. i. 81 to he merely an earthen
vessel, weak and worthless e Cor. iv.
~ which may keep filled out of his
fullness in whom dwelleth all the full
ness of the Godhead bodily. Like a
branch in tree, am set in him, to
draw all my life juices out of his life
juices, and to turn the sap which he
supplies me with into spiritual fruits to
the glory of his Father.
But, ali | constantly fail in this
point. | am weak in everything, be-
cause | am weak in faith. | try to live
on my own beggarly resources, and am
starved, when by faith | might he liv-
ing in kingly tf1auence upon his. |
measure the might of my spiritual enc
mics against my own, and quail before
them, when | should be offering my
feeble feet to God, that with them he
might tread down my foes FPS. TX. IL. J
reason instead of listening, and pur-
pose when | should at once obey. Oh,
let me have done with this. Let me
realize my utter death in self, but real
ize, too, my joyous lie and siren tn in
Jesus. He is looking not for strong
ones, but for weak yes for the very
weakest He still chooses the weak
things of the world and the foolish to
confound the mighty. Why, then, may
he not use me, the very weakest of all
[ will lay me at his feet, and beseech
him to work in me and through me.
Oh that he would take my eyes, and
through them weep again his tears OF
tender mercy over sinners. Oh that
with my feet he would run after the
lost, and cry to them with my voice,
and yearn over them with my heart
philip. i. 81 | will prove and see and
with MCheyne will plead, Though |
am but child, Lord use me for what
a child can do"
All, | fear | have been making q
wrong use of my sense of weakness.
have let Satan speak to me about it,
instead of opening my ear to the Holy
Spirits teachings. Let me watch and
pray, lest be tempted through it to
sloth or unbelief. No man, no angel
no creature, can he stronger than he
who has the power of Christ working in
him; and this is what | am called to
Since / have only the one talent let me
be all the more careful to trade dill
gently with it, and like the poor widow
with her one farthing, to cast it I'M
broken into the treasury of God.
Yes, let me seek greater simplicity OF
faith, and also greater faithfulness as
to what the Lord has already entrusted
to me. | need no more talents Just
now, | have plenty-far more than
shall be able to give good account OF
when the Master comes to reckon will
his servants. But oh for faithfulness
And | must seek to live a life o
prayer. Here if anywhere, lies the vic
tory. Joshua-like service in the valley
is a failure, only because MOses-likt
wrestlings on the mount are relaxed
Strength of grace will manifest itsel
first of all in strength of prayer. AnC
thus, waiting on the Lord, shall renew
my strength and though in myself as
weak as ever, my lowly life-wOrk shall
be in a measure done; while l shall
feel all along, in the doing of it, that i
is not |, but the grace of God which il
with me Il Cor. XIV. 10.)
My reader, set no limits to your ex
pectations from Gods grace in Chris
Jesus. Alas that we so limit the Holy
One of Israel. expect great thing
from God" and this will give you hear
to ''attempt great things for God
"Grace reigneth."
The Door was Shut.