If you skipped over writing down your natural man tendencies, go back and do that before reading any further. What we have discovered about ourselves thus far hopefully has brought the awareness of at least one fallen man or natural man tendency. This awareness can be used for good as long as we connect what to do with all of it. Maybe you feel a little bit like Moses when he proclaimed, “Man is nothing” (Moses 1:10). I love that he adds, “which thing I never had supposed.” Because of what Moses had just experienced he knew his limited capacity, but he had never realized his nothingness before.
When Moses says “nothing” he isn’t meaning worthless or not important to God. He is trying to explain what we would maybe call “powerless.” It’s not that we, as God’s children, aren’t valuable to Him. This type of nothing simply means that we mere mortals cannot do everything. This truth must sink deeply into our hearts in order to truly minister. If we are seeking to minister in our own strength or our own power, then it won't be ministering!
What originally brought me to the realization of my own natural man and fallen man tendencies was actually feeling powerless over my husband’s addiction. Then I realized how powerless I was over the effects of betrayal trauma in my own life. Maybe it is illness, or financial difficulty, an unresolved past of sin or hurt from others' choices or affliction of any kind. It doesn’t matter what we are feeling powerless over, recognition is the key.
When we realize we are “nothing,” or powerless, this can be important thinking! There are countless ways and combinations of ways that we can become aware of the areas of our lives where no matter how hard we try, we seem to always fall short or eventually caves in around us. This awareness is exactly what we need! I hope you can come to see that this isn’t a mistake. This is all part of God’s plan! We can’t fix this ourselves, yet we can’t excuse it either. We will hit on what to do about these discoveries as we continue to press forward.
This kind of honest thinking can lead us down the exact path God is hoping we would find! He beckons to us again and again, over and over to come. And this is the way. This path remains hidden from view to those with proud eyes. It isn’t until we go humbly searching for it that we can hope to find it. You see, whether we can recognize our need for the Savior or not, we still need Him. Until we realize that we cannot fix whatever we have uncovered and that it MUST be addressed---until we realize we really have a problem, we will continue in the same patterns. These patterns may seem new, but as we examine them closely, we may recognize they are simply disguised as new mutations of the same old problems.
As you look over what you have written about your own personal tendencies, Satan likely thinks this is a great time to whisper lies of discouragement (if he hasn’t attempted to do so already). I have watched many people come to this realization, yet plateau out because of discouragement, never to move forward. They just can’t comprehend that there is more and that this is only the first step. It’s okay we can’t do it! God doesn’t intend for us to do it! Can you see yet that you need His help? Can you see yet that you can’t fix the mess of your life yourself? Elder Uchtdorf beautifully said, “So if you feel small and weak, please simply come unto Christ, who makes weak things strong.” And that is exactly where we need to head next to be able to ward off Satan’s attempts of discouragement.
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