The life of victory begins, not with a sense of fullness, but with a sense of emptiness. Too often I am occupied with victory instead of being occupied with need. I will never develop strong, vibrant faith without a feeling of helplessness and, sometimes, despair. When Jesus rebuked His disciples with “O ye of little faith” (Matthew 8:26, KJV), He implied that they had failed to recognize their great need; hence, they felt no compunction to beg from God. People who are self-satisfied never have great faith.
How do I become filled with righteousness? By hungering and thirsting after it (Matthew 5:6). If I take care of the need, God will take care of the supply. The men who joined David’s rebel army were men who were “in distress … in debt, and … discontented” (1 Samuel 22:2). They cherished visions of victory, triumph, and justice; but their road to those aspirations was made possible by a realization of their distress. So I cannot achieve victory in my personal discipleship for Jesus Christ until I have come to the end of myself. In that sense I am a “brinkmanship disciple” who is delivered from the edge and rendered victorious by His power.
I sense a need when I take a good look at myself—a good, honest look and not an idealistic one. I am admonished, “Look within and be distressed.” Of course, but I need to be distressed; how else would I ever “look to Jesus and be at rest”? I must see my sin, my emptiness, my corruption. Once I really see it, it will not be long before I cry to heaven for help, and that help will not be long in coming. The vacuum created by my need will draw all the supplies that I desperately long for from heaven. The beginning of thirst is the beginning of blessing!
“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 43:5).
Daily with the King 