It is I; be not afraid.– When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I [am] the LORD thy God,… thy Saviour. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.– Emmanuel,… God with us.
DailyLight – ACTS 26: 15. Mt 14: 27.– Is 43: 2, 3. Ps 23: 4.– Mt 1: 23.

These verses comfort me this morning. As I come face to face with recent failures and their consequences, I struggle to maintain hope that I can overcome my flesh. There is no hope of me doing this in my own strength. I MUST have the power of the Holy Spirit; I must have the living Christ working in me and through me if I am to regain any sense of moderation and self-control in my life.

These failures are ones I have repeated throughout my entire life. The temptations have dragged me down without me even offering a fight for much of that time, and any battles I have won always seem so short-lived. I seriously cannot see myself enduring all the long days, weeks, months and years of fighting my demons and achieving my goal of continued self-discipline. If I think of having to accomplish this in my own strength, I’m done for before I even start.

Then I reach these verses, and a ray of hope shines through. Maybe, just maybe, if HE is with me, it IS possible. His presence changes everything and does make all things possible. He is WITH ME. I am not alone in this struggle with my own fleshly lusts. Maybe I can try again, one more time. Maybe I will go farther in my quest, get closer to my goal with Him beside me.

Yes, I am willing to get up, in hope, and try again. My failures and sins, although their results stare back at me in the mirror, are separated from me as far as the east is from the west. I am still free to open these prison doors and escape from the self-imposed sentence I have been living under. I will try again, but I will have to rely on His presence and power to get through every hour, and to remain hopeful on this journey through my struggles.

Penny Haynes
http://ChristianWomenWithDepression.com