When we are weak

Sometimes, like tonight, I want to write my blog, but I’m just so tired I consider skipping it. How often though, as soon as I start to write, the ideas start flowing. God is good that way.
2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10, But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
When we are tired, when we are heartbroken, when we don’t know which way to turn in order to improve our struggle, that is when Jesus can do His thing and use us. If we know exactly where we are headed; if we know exactly what we are going to do when the next crisis hits; if we are in control all the time, Jesus can’t work through us because we are in control of ourselves. There is no room for Him when our own selves are in charge. Paul wrote most of the New Testament and God used him greatly. If anyone had the right to boast about being righteous, it was him, but he chose to be humble.
We cannot call ourselves believers if we are dependant on ourselves doing things for God.
Galatians 2:15-16, We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know a person is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Romans 4:4-5, Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
If we only follow the law we are not going to get anywhere, except that we will receive our wages. Say, for instance you aren’t a believer, but you tithe, you will receive the blessing which is on tithing. If you keep the law you will receive the blessings that come with the law. They won’t take you anywhere near heaven though. The only way to be justified before God is by believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for our sins.
James 2:14 – 18, What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it doesn’t have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
To me this is quite clear that if we want to be called Christians, we have to be saved by grace and we have to live out our faith practically. James is saying here that we can’t just tell someone, “Bless you sister or Bless you brother,” we actually have to dig into our pockets and help people who are in need. Here he is specifically speaking about a brother or a sister, in other words, fellow believers. In my opinion we are not obliged to just give money, or even food to every beggar on every street corner. There are people who beg and have some serious agendas. Simply giving to beggars just encourages them to beg, but that is my opinion. We cannot, however, just let other Christians go hungry and poorly clothed if we can do anything about it.
But whatever we do, we need to do it out of our weakness so that the Holy Spirit can lead us and work through us. This applies not only to giving to the needy, it applies to every aspect of our lives. If we can start being more and more dependant on God and less in control we are going to start living the lives we need to live.