~ Devotion ~ Mar
1st
The Sense of Inadequacy
"Don't bother me. The door is locked for the night, and we are all in bed. I can't help you this time."
Luke 11:7
We often speak of the power of love. In one sense this is true, and yet the truth has limitations. The strongest love may be utterly inadequate. A mother might be willing to give her life for her dying child but still not be able to save it. The host at midnight was most willing to give his friend bread, but he had none. It was this sense of inadequacy that sent him begging, "A friend of mine has just arrived. . .and I have nothing for him to eat." This sense of inadequacy gives strength to the life of intercession.
"I have nothing for him to eat." As we are aware of our inadequacies, intercession becomes the only hope and refuge. I may have knowledge, a loving heart, and be ready to give myself for those under my charge, but I cannot give them the bread of heaven. With all my love and zeal, still "I have nothing to set before them."
Blessed are you if you have made "I have nothing" the motto of your ministry. You think of the judgment day and the danger of those without Christ and recognize a supernatural power is needed to save poeple form sin. You feel utterly insufficient--all you can do is to meet their natural need. "I have nothing" motivates you to pray. Intercession appears to you as the only thing in which you rlove can take refuge.
