As I woke I knew it was going to be a “crashy” day. I was exhausted, unable to keep my eyes open.
“I can’t,” I said to God, sadly. A thought came: “I can’t, You never said I could. You can, You always said You would.”
I went online to search for that quote. W. Ian Thomas said it this way:
“I can’t, He never said I could; He can, He always said He would.”
Hmm. Who was this man I’d never heard of?
Coming to faith at 12-years-old, Thomas became a whirlwind of activity: witnessing, preaching, teaching, starting Bible clubs, packing every moment of his days. By the age of 19 he was spiritually exhausted, physically weary, emotionally despairing. He knelt and prayed:
‘With all my heart I have wanted to serve Thee. I have tried to my uttermost and I am a hopeless failure.’ That night things happened. The Lord seemed to make plain to me that night, through my tears of bitterness: ‘You see, for seven years, with utmost sincerity, you have been trying to live for Me, on My behalf, the life that I have been waiting for seven years to live through you.'” (excerpted from his biography )
At that point, his thinking – and living – changed. Life, Ian Thomas would often declare, is not of inactivity but of Christ-activity. It is not what you can do for God but what He can do through you.
Wow! Never thought of it that way! Always thought it was my responsibility to live the Christian life (along with cleaning my room!). But right now I have nothing. Perhaps I should simply get out of God’s way.
Ian Thomas went on to found Torchbearer’s International (never heard of that either!). Here are thoughts from his writings:
“There are those who have a life they never live. They have come to Christ and thanked Him only for what He did, but do not live in the power of who He is.”
“All of Christ in all of you. You can never have more. You need never have less.”
“True repentance says, “I cannot,” and true faith adds, “But God, You can!” (from The Indwelling Life of Christ: All of Him in All of Me)
Wow, again. Now I think I need to read his books!
Thanks for the introduction to this interesting man. I ,too, want to know more about him.
I pray you have a restful, peace filled, day.
Isn’t if fun to make a discovery? Never stop learning (learned that from my mother!).