Listen to today’s devo!

He tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. (Mark 5:4)

My four sons like to wrestle. My husband joins in from time to time, but I steer clear. The brute, sweat, and physicality are not my idea of a good time.

But one Saturday morning, my oldest was relentless. He challenged me to battle him over and over, but my answer remained unchanged—until he said the words he knew would rile me up, “That’s okay, Mom. Girls aren’t strong anyway.” I knew it was a trick, but I fell for it anyway and immediately entered the ring. Within minutes, I had pinned him to the floor, not letting him go until he repeated, “Girls are strong!”

I look back on this moment laughingly, yet I wonder: How often do we wrestle in other ways? When life presses in, we often think we must power up and through. We assume that somewhere in the fabric of our being we have what it takes, that we “should be” strong enough.

But what happens when we aren’t? Death, disaster, and disease upend us, or no matter how hard we try to shake a bad habit, it returns, teeth snarling. Sooner or later, we realize: We are not enough.

Like the demon-possessed man, our struggles outmatch our strength. We need Jesus. We must stop wrestling and relying on our own strength, and instead allow our weaknesses to be his glory (see 2 Cor. 12:9).

Stop wrestling, and invite God into your weakness.

Sarah E. Westfall is an author, speaker, and graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University. She resides in Indiana with her husband, Ben, and their four boys. She really wants a nap.

© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.