So we recognize that it is pride to shrink from service simply because we aren’t “the best.” But even if we humbly step up to the plate and take a swing at it, there’s still the reality of our own inadequacy. We still lack what it takes to get the job done! What are we to do?
Jerry Bridges (not a descendant of Charles as far as we know), in his book Transforming Grace quotes John Owen in answer to this question:
“Yet the duties God requires of us are not in proportion to the strength we possess in ourselves. Rather, they are proportional to the resources available to us in Christ. We do not have the ability in ourselves to accomplish the least of God’s tasks. This is a law of grace. When we recognize it is impossible for us to perform a duty in our own strength, we will discover the secret of its accomplishment. But alas, this is a secret we often fail to discover.”
Instead of measuring a task against our own feeble abilities, or comparing our gifts to others (for, as Jerry Bridges points out, that’s what they are, after all: gifts of grace), let’s draw upon the limitless resources of Christ. Let’s not fail to discover this great secret of accomplishment.
