My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26 ESV
I have been contemplating this verse from Psalm 73 from last night and have found it encouraging to know that even in my failure, God is my strength and forever my portion. His Word had been teaching me that God is holy and separate from us in all his ways and he expects us to live in his holiness – within his standards. His expectation is that we be holy and perfect.
Even in this expectation my Father knows that I will fall as it is an impossible task for my weak flesh and heart. I am focusing on two things through this thought.
1. My desire should be for perfection as an outworking of my life for Christ. I should delight in the Lord through obedience to his Word and rule for life. His boundaries are there for my good and his motivation is his glory through my progressive holiness in becoming more like him. This perfection or maturity or holiness should be my ambition as I lay aside whatever hinders me from pleasing my Creator.
2. I will fail. This is not an admission of defeat and an excuse to not try. On the contrary, it gives me the freedom to try and fail. It gives me the strength to admit my weakness and frailty before the Lord and cling to Jesus for forgiveness. He has redeemed me and pardons all my sin. It pleases Jesus to forgive me. It pleases my God to have me strive for holiness and to aim for godliness. Just like a child riding a bike, he doesn't get mad when I fall off the bike. Rather, he comforts me and binds my wounds and wipes away my tears. Then encourages me to try again.
This is the comfort and mercy of my good Father. He challenges and encourages me to walk the hard and difficult path of this world. He brings healing and strength for the journey, but it is a journey I must make. Relying on him to be sure, but it’s mine to walk. And like the prodigal son’s father who ran out to meet him, so too will my Father run to embrace me when I safely arrive home by his goodness, grace, and mercy.
Journal Entry // January 10, 2021