How to be Strong

One of the great themes of scripture is found in the birth of Jesus story. It can be summarized as: God works through weakness.

There is a drive in the human heart to seem strong.
We reject grace and pretend we are worthy;
We reject mercy and act as though we are holy;
We refuse His work and try to do the works ourselves.

• But none of these pretend games work. At the last we all have to admit that, as the old song goes, I am weak but He is strong.
  
  God chose a weak little girl to be one of the great heroes of all history.
  He trusted a very young girl to carry the Messiah, the hope of the entire world.
  He brought forth the Messiah without the effort or strength of a man.
  He chose Mary from a poor little tribe of unlearned people living in a tiny country away from the famous and rich.
  He put the life of Mary and the Messiah in danger because she was unmarried.
  He had the Messiah born in Bethlehem, an obscure town named after bread.
  God placed the baby in an unsanitary barn with the smell of hay and manure instead of rich oils and powders or the scent of disinfectants.
  Joseph died while Jesus was as a child and grew to manhood with no earthly father.
  Jesus bought salvation and healing through death.

Why do we assume we must be competent and always perfect?