Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
How many times have you tried to break a habit or change something that you don’t like about your life?
In the beginning, through grit and sheer willpower, you probably had some success for little while. Or even for a season. But then something happens and you find yourself falling back to your starting point. But now it’s worse, you are now indulging even more on the very thing that you were trying not to do. And your situation is now a lot worse than what it was at the beginning!
The reason your success was only short term is because you ate the one trying to do it – you are depending upon yourself, your will, your strength rather than the power of God working in you.
Ps Joseph Prince shared a story about a chain-smoker who used to believe that with willpower, he could quit smoking. He would tell himself, “If there is a will, there is a way!” But he discovered that with willpower, he could stop smoking for a week or two, and then he would succumb to the addiction of nicotine again.
When he turned his life over to God and learnt about God’s grace, he told God, “I realize that I cannot stop smoking. ‘I cannot, but You can break my habit, Lord.” And every time he lit up, he would say, “Lord, I am trying to stop smoking, but I cannot. I am trusting You.” He would even say, “I am still righteous because of Jesus’ blood.”
Well, in the very same year, all his cravings to smoke vanished! When asked how he succeeded, he would say, “It is entirely God and none of me! It is all by His grace.” This man lost all the desire to smoke. That is true transformation.
This works with everything – are you addicted to worry, fear, anger, insecurity? Maybe it’s hard drugs, alcohol, porn. When you give it over to God and trust Him to deal with it, that’s when the power comes.
Relying on the grace of God is carrying a dependency upon Him and His power working through you rather than on your own strength or ability. You are depending upon Him to do for you what you cannot do. It’s saying to the Lord: “I cannot, but you can”. This mindset will cause you to experience effortless and permanent change on the inside, which in turn changes your actions on the outside.
The Bible tells us that God works in us to give us both the will and ability to perform what He desires. It is God who removes the old wants and gives us new ones. And He even gives us the power to carry them out!