Mere Dust

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.  For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:13-14)

I can be pretty hard on myself when I fail.  I tend to dwell on my mistakes and even engage in some excessive self-scolding for allowing it to happen.

I can quickly forgive others, but forgive myself? That’s a different story.

Does that strike a familiar chord with you?

If yes, those feelings don’t come from our heavenly Father.  He is quick to show compassion.  Why?  Because He knows our frailty.

That’s right, our frailty.

I know, I know, all the self-help books are written to tell us how great we are and how much  potential we have, but in reality, the only true potential in us comes from God’s spirit that dwell within us.

Maybe it’s time we understand that we have many shortcomings as humans and that’s ok.  We have a fallen nature that we will struggle with until death sets us free.

Sometimes I think the unwillingness to forgive ourselves stems from an inflated view of who we are.  God brings us back to reality by reminding us of our origin – mere dust before He breathed life into us.  It’s all about Him.  We are just the vessel.

It’s healthy to have a realistic view of ourselves.  When we do, we won’t take our weaknesses and failures too seriously.  We may even be able to chuckle at some of our bonehead mistakes, instead of taking ourselves out to the whipping shed.

I am going to take it a step farther and say that we should rejoice over our shortcomings, because they allow us to celebrate God’s grace.  It also reinforces in us a healthy reminder of our frailty and our utter dependency on Him.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the apostle Paul said “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

I am not advocating taking our sin lightly.  On the contrary, we should seek to always live a holy life in thought and deed, which only can be done by surrendering our hearts and minds to the lordship of Jesus.

But we will never be perfect, so when your human frailty rears its head, show compassion and remember you are but mere dust.  Then lean on God.