I’ve been known to say that I don’t need any help from the Devil when it comes to taking missteps in my life in Christ. I’m fairly adept at losing my way all on my own.
Shakespeare would agree. In Troilus and Cressida he wrote, “Sometimes we are devils to ourselves when we will tempt the frailty of our powers, presuming on their changeful potency.”
Who needs the Devil when we are our own Tempters putting confidence in our own strength? Of course, we can’t always presume that our power has the potency to accomplish all that we will. In addition, we do well not to discount how the Devil uses our confidence in our own strength to weaken our confidence in Christ.
I wonder how many people recovering from a crisis in their lives have said in effect, when offered help and support, “I don’t need any help. I’ll do this on my own. After all I’m Lutheran.” Never mind that at the core of our Lutheran faith is the confession of helpless and our complete dependence on God’s grace and sustaining mercy shown us in Jesus Christ
It’s for that reason, we prayed in the Collect of the Day for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, “Almighty God, You know we live in the midst of so many dangers that in our frailty we cannot stand upright. Grant strength and protection to support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”
We have all seen someone who is so frail that they are unable to stand upright, but are always bent over. We have a spiritual frailty that leaves us bent out of shape in regard to the things of God. In the Collect we are telling God something He already knows. When we think we have sufficient power that our potency can carry us through all dangers and temptations, we’re only kidding ourselves. God knows better, and so does the Devil.
We pray for God’s strength and protection to support us in all dangers and temptations.
Notice to whom we are praying. “Almighty God,” who expressed His strength in Jesus death and resurrection. Therefore we pray through His Son who lives and reigns with the Triune God, today and every day after today and even beyond the times when we live with them in the eternal day.
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