When You Have Come To The End Of Yourself - 2 Samuel 2-5
By Pastor Chong Yew
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When you have come to the end of yourself. That is where God begins.
Some of us have come to the end of ourselves, but we refuse
to admit it. When you have tried everything, and nothing seems to work. When
you could not overcome your weaknesses, and you keep falling into the same
hole. When you could not overcome your fears, and you remain petrified, or when
your world caves in, and you became devastated and disappointed with God … You
have beyond the shadow of doubt come to the end of yourself.
Today, I have good news for you… When you have finally
realized that you have come to the end of your strength. That is also where
God’s miracles and power begins. Most people will not bounce up, until they hit
rock bottom. But the sooner you realize your inadequacy and humble yourself
before God, that is when God’s strength becomes imminent and breakthrough will
be just around the corner.
In 2 Samuel 1, King Saul and his son Jonathon died. Saul’s
son Ishbosheth was made King of Israel and David was anointed King of Judah.
During that time, the northern kingdom of Israel was at war with the southern
kingdom of Judah. David’s kingdom grew steadily stronger while Saul’s kingdom
steadily weaker. Both kingdoms consist of able and capable people, but it makes
a difference if God is with you. David’s men killed 360 of Saul’s men while
they lost only 20 of their men. During those times, they fought with primitive
equipment. Given all things being equal, you should have roughly the same
number of casualties on both sides. In essence, there is only one answer: God
is with David. As God is also with us, we could soon see the majority of people
growing and prospering in our church.
Then Abner, Israel’s commander defected to David. Abner,
being an influential rallied the elders of Israel to join him. David made a
covenant with Joab and he went in peace. Unfortunately, Joab, who is Judah’s army
commander wanted to avenge his brother’s death and murdered Abner. When David
was just about to be anointed as King over all of Israel and Judah, suddenly he
realized that he has very little power and control. His own commander disobeyed
him and carried out this heinous crime. David has lost a good and righteous man.
David said to his servants, “I am weak, though I am anointed
as King.” 2 Samuel 3:39.
David realized he has failed in exercising authority over
his second man, Joab. He realized that he has no control to prevent evil from
happening in his kingdom. Hence, he humbled himself and fasted. His fasting is a
repentance of his arrogance and acknowledgment of His impotence that God alone
must rein over the kingdom.
There are a number of reasons why man must depend on God in
order to succeed:
1. Man’s
influence is localized, whereas God’s influence is universal. Man could only be
at one place at a time, but God is omnipresent. Man could only exercise his
influence within a limited capacity. A mother when she is at work could only
depend on others to protect her child at school. Hence, we must depend on God
because only He is omnipresent.
2. Man can
persuade, but it is God who could convict and change their hearts. People would
not obey just because you tell them to do so. Unless people have to feel
convicted in their hearts, they will not follow. However, Spirit of God could
convict man’s hearts. Hence, we must depend on God when we communicate with our
colleagues, our children or our customers.
3. Man knows
the cause and the effect, whereas God knows the end from the beginning. We
exercise control based on the predictability of cause and effect. We exercise a
certain cause of action to achieve a desired effect. However, most of the time,
a cause does not necessarily lead to a desired effect. But God does not work by
cause and effect; He determines the end from the beginning. Proverbs 16:33,
“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
The chaos theory or the “Butterfly Effect” says that a small
but insignificant event at place can result in a large difference at a later
state. In meteorological terms, a flapping of the wings of a butterfly could
ripple through causing a tornado some days later. Hence, there are many
butterflies that were flapping their wings at one time making our decisions
uncertain. Therefore, the bible says, “man plans, but God establishes His
ways.” (Proverbs 16:9).
What should we do in the face of uncertainties?
1. We humble
ourselves before God and acknowledge our impotence, and disobedience.
2. We make a
decision to receive God’s grace through prayer, obedience and tarrying.
Apostle Paul said, “And
God has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
When man’s strength and wisdom come to an end, God’s grace
begins. The sooner we realize our inability and weaknesses, the quicker we will
experience the power of Christ. Spending time in prayer together with God’s
people brings the grace of God to prosper.
Issues to ponder:
1. What areas
in your life have you been struggling and found wanting?
2. What do you
feel?
a. a sense of lost;
b. perpetual
weakness in a certain area;
c. trapped
in a vicious cycle and going nowhere;
d. the
same problems reoccurring.
3. What are the
possible issues?
a. you refuse to recognize your weaknesses;
b. you are looking at an “easier” way to “tap” into God’s grace;
c. you could not bring yourself to pray, obey and wait upon
God.
.
.
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