Are you totally self-sufficient? Does all of your success come because of you–your intelligence, your work, and so on? We live in an age that glorifies the strength of an individual.
Charles Darwin studied evolution. One day he hit on an idea that seemed to explain observations of nature that he and others had noticed He called it “survival of the fittest.” Within 10 years, social theorists picked up on this thought and translated it into human experience. This was “liberalism” in the 1880s, now it is “conservative” in our day in the US. I know many people who attribute their relative success in life (at least financially and socially) to being “fit.” Poor people? They just aren’t fit. See, it’s all about me.
Today, we still live in the shadow of those ideas. We celebrate strong, self-sufficient, wealthy people.
We’re not unique. King David had it all. He was “fit.” He was King. He commanded and people moved. As I discussed yesterday, he commanded that a woman be brought to him and that act started a chain of evil acts.
In Psalm 51 where David pours out his heart after realizing how bad he had become, he writes, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit.”
Our society hates that image. Had I started this meditation with that thought, many would have skipped it. And they would have because they misunderstand strength. Only when you come to the realization that on your own you have too many weaknesses–often that bury themselves and surface as supposed strengths–will you be “fit”. To realize your weaknesses and the things you do that are wrong is really a sign of strength.
Only when you see “there but for the grace of God, go I” rather than praying like the Pharisees “Thank you God that I am not a miserable sinner like them” will you be able to tap into the greatest strength in the universe–God.
Faith Venture 
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