It's all inside me...

We think we're so strong don't we?  I sure do! Now more than ever our society drills into the minds of people young and old that we can do what ever we want!  That we can accomplish whatever we put our minds to! That we are SO amazing that nothing can stop us! Even the instructor of my hot yoga class reminds us yogis that 'everything we need is inside of us.  Look deep, find your inner strength, realize that you are good and important and that whatever you need to be at this moment, be that, it's all there.' And as I lay there dripping with sweat I reject those words knowing the Bible paints a very different picture.  

When I opened my Bible this morning, my eyes fell on Psalm 44, "a prayer for help." And I stayed right there...because I need a lot of help right now (healing for my body, relief from financial strain, insight and discernment for my college-age children, wisdom for an unsure future)!  But unlike what my hot yoga instructor touted, Psalm 44 reminded me that the strength and help I need right now does NOT come from inside me.  Verses 3+4 say It wasn't their swords that took the land. It wasn't their power that gave them victory. But is was Your great power and strength. You were with them because you love them.  Clearly the psalmist is referencing a battle situation but the point is still the same:  Our strength and victory does NOT come from us, inside or out; it comes from God! The psalmist goes on to confirm his feelings in verses 6-8.  He says I don’t trust my bow to help me, and my sword can’t save me. You saved us from our foes, and you made our enemies ashamed. We will praise God every day; we will praise your name forever. 

So while the other yogis were searching for their inner strength and saying their final na·ma·ste (ˈnäməˌstā/), I was praying to the Almighty God of the universe to come be the God I know him to be in this psalm.  To come be the God that fights my battles for me, to come heal my body on his perfect timeline, to come show me what to do in situations where I'm presently stymied, to teach me a pure, unconditional love for all people (which will come ONLY from the Holy Spirit's influence on my heart, NOT because I try really hard to love them), to guide me as I try to offer wisdom to my young-adult children, to develop in me a deeper love for my spouse so that the second 25 years we have together, Lord willing, will be better than the first. And finally, to help me not lay on my mat judging my fellow yogis for their miss-placed meditations but instead to pray that their eyes will be opened to their real and true and only source of inner peace and strength, the Lord, Jesus Christ.