«　WEEK 4　DAY 5　»

　　2 Cor. 1:8-9 …We were excessively burdened, beyond our power, so that we despaired even of living. Indeed we ourselves had the response of death in ourselves, that we should not base our confidence on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

　　Isa. 49:15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she would not have compassion on the son of her womb? Even though they may forget, yet I will not forget you.

　　John 11 presents another principle: the Lord does not heal man; He resurrects man. Healing involves helping man’s weaknesses…. Instead of immediately healing Lazarus, the Lord waited for Lazarus to die in order to raise him, because the Lord only wants to raise man. Resurrection involves waiting until man comes to an end in order to give him a new beginning….The Lord must wait until we are hopelessly weak, until we are an utter failure, and until we are completely dead before He can manifest His resurrection power in us.

　　Thus, we should let go of our weaknesses and failures when we draw near to the Lord. The Lord already knows our weaknesses and failures…. If He allows us to be defeated, even our imploring Him will not make us strong. Hence, we need to learn the lesson of dropping our problems when we pray. When we are truly hopeless and at an end, the Lord will come. This is resurrection, and this is salvation. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, “The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer,” p. 260)

　　In John 13 the Lord washed His disciples’ feet. The principle involved in this case is that we need to let Him do what He wills in us when we draw near to Him. We should not be like Peter, who humbly said, “You shall by no means wash my feet forever.” Then, when the Lord said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me,” Peter said, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head” (vv. 8-9). This is our condition. The Lord wants to work in us, but we initially will not let Him. Later, when we are willing, we want Him to do more than He intends. These are our human opinions.

　　In chapter 21 the Lord manifested Himself to His disciples. This case shows that the Lord will draw near to us even when we fall into the world, that is, when we are at our weakest point and forget to draw near to Him.

　　Peter… had not only gone back to the world but also had taken other disciples with him. After he had said, “I am going fishing,” some of the disciples said, “We also are coming with you” (v. 3). This can be compared to a brother saying, “I am going to love the world,” and other brothers saying, “We also are coming with you.” The disciples went as a group to love the world; they fell into the world together. The Lord, however, did not abandon them. He continued to look after them. He let them catch fish, and He also fed them with fish and bread that He had prepared. After they ate, the Lord asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” (v. 15). With these words the Lord let His disciples know that He was not disappointed in them; He wanted them to continue to follow Him and to serve Him.

　　Concerning contacting the Lord, we are all failures. Peter went fishing, and we also “go fishing” like him. We fail, but the Lord never fails. When we draw near to Him, He contacts us, and even when we do not draw near to Him, He still comes to contact us. We are unreliable. We may contact the Lord today but not tomorrow, or we may contact Him this month but not next month. No matter what our condition is, the Lord remains the same. No matter how we change, the Lord never changes. Hence, in our contacting the Lord, we must realize that the Lord never changes, no matter how much we may change. This is a principle. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, “The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer,” pp. 260-262)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 3, “Fellowshipping with the Lord for the Mingling of God with Man,” ch. 1