Devotion: Boldly Flawed
Romans 7:18b-20
“I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
Most of us are pretty good at doing the easy good things: we praise a child for a drawing or behavior, we share our garden produce, we give money to support the good begun by someone else.
It’s the hard good things that we avoid: asking forgiveness from someone we’ve wronged, letting go of a grudge and extending forgiveness ourselves, writing a heartfelt note to someone deep in grief, taking a shut-in friend on an outing. These require a sacrifice of time and effort and sometimes more self-examination than we want to engage in. Often though, they have the most important results: restored and deepened relationships.
God is glad we do the easy good things. They are a witness to his love and an example for others. But God asks us to do the hard good things, too. He knows we can’t do them by ourselves. We doubt our ability to do the hard things, and our sinful nature says, “later” or “maybe,” and these become “never.” But when we ask God for help, He is with us as we step forward in faith. And often, his answers are better than our plans.
Thirty years ago, I had a friend who traveled the U.S. three weeks out of four as a corporate trainer. Patsy felt guilty that she didn’t often drive to her widowed aunt’s distant nursing home when she wasn’t travelling. She prayed for the desire and discipline to see her aunt more often.
But God gave her a different grace: “Send her postcards from the places you go. She’ll love that.” Patsy’s aunt did love those postcards and when they were together, they had much to talk about. “I know you’re busy, dear,” her aunt said, “but your cards remind me every day that you’re thinking about me.”
When I’ve prayed for the courage, strength and kick in the butt to do a hard thing, God has often given me better words to say or write, or actions to take than I had considered. And, oh, the joy, the relief, the pleasure of knowing I had pleased God!
We can do hard things. We just can’t do them by ourselves. Ask God for the help you need and He will answer.
God, you and I both know that I should do this good, hard thing that I’ve been avoiding. Show me the steps to take and help me take them, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Written by Cheryl Stubbendieck