The flesh fails us in so many ways…

*We fail ourselves, by our own sinful, human nature.

*Our friends fail us.

*Our spouse fails us.

*Our church disappoints us.

*Our bodies betray us.

*The caprice of circumstance leaves us hanging.

*The human condition- subject to the curse of sin, disease, death- all leave us helpless and hurting.

Practically speaking, we are all aware that this will happen. We have all witnessed the effects. Oft-quoted statements express (in part or whole) the variability and undependability of human experience:

“Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.”

“The only sure things in life are death and taxes.”

“If you want something done right, you better do it yourself.”

The Bible communicates it this way: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” (Psa. 118:8)

But still, we naturally lean on the things- and the people- that we can see with our eyes. We depend on friends to be loyal and true. We expect spouses to be perfectly faithful. We get caught up in the day-to-day living of life- balanced precariously on the assumption that our tomorrows will follow the pattern of our today. As we lean on the arm of flesh, we are toppled over by the inevitable failures that come. And if we could produce an image of our inner spiritual man, we would be surprised to see that he is often as wobbly as the proverbial “fiddler on the roof.” We say “God is good” when He sends what we perceive to be “good” things. But we must be convinced that God is good in His character and gracious in the disappointments of life as well.

The prophet Jeremiah was sent by God to carry His message of warning and destruction to the inhabitants of Judah. Jeremiah 17:5-6 says, “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.”