As I sit here studying, there’s a passage that grabs my attention and communicates with where many of us are at including myself. Romans 7 has pretty much nailed me down tonight. As you can see in the following verses it answers some of the age-old questions about why we do things or make certain decisions that are not what God wills for us to do.
Romans 7:7-25
7 But I can hear you say, "If the law code was as bad as all that, it's no better than sin itself." That's certainly not true. The law code had a perfectly legitimate function. Without its clear guidelines for right and wrong, moral behavior would be mostly guesswork. Apart from the succinct, surgical command, "You shall not covet," I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it. 8-12 Don't you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of "forbidden fruit" out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong. So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead. But the law code itself is God's good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel. 13 I can already hear your next question: "Does that mean I can't even trust what is good [that is, the law]? Is good just as dangerous as evil?" No again! Sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me. By hiding within God's good commandment, sin did far more mischief than it could ever have accomplished on its own. 14-16 I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. 17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. 21-23 It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. 24 I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? 25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
Have you been at the point where I’ve found myself so many times? The point where you decide that you’re are going after everything that God has for you, and many times you know that will require you to take up a new way of thinking. It’s so easy to become encouraged through peer relationships, or people in the public eye, or even sermons to go out into the world and “make a difference.” For 95% of us we let it die within the first week or two of making that decision. Why is that? Romans 7 illustrates exactly why this happens.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the comment “dreams die during implementation.” Dreaming is the easy part, walking it out is where we often find ourselves upside down.
“ I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.”
This has been my story countless times, seems like every time I decide to go after my dreams that God has birthed inside of me I get hung up. After the dream or vision I feel like I can charge Hell with a water pistol and take over, this is usually short lived. Why? The best bet is because I try to do it out of my own strength and will. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 tells me:
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
If I will just find the source of my strength then I can overcome all things. I don’t have to be a spiritual superman so to speak; I just have to be in relationship with the “Spiritual Superman Himself.” It would be like playing a game of 3 on 3 with Michael Jordan and Shaq on your team. You could take on anyone and be confident in a win. It’s just like this with God on your team. He’s in your corner, waiting for the ball; when the ball is in His hands it’s a certain victory, without question. Sometimes we need to take a step back, take the game out of our own hands and put in the hands of the One who has already won the final victory. Flip to the back of the book, we win!
