“We need to be reminded again and again that spiritual maturity is not about the assurance of personal strength; it is about being joyfully willing to admit weakness, because of the constant renewing work of God’s grace in our lives. We should not fear the weakness that drives us into our Lord’s hands. What we should fear are the delusions of strength that tempt us to live independently.”

-Paul David Tripp, Sunday Matters

This came up in Readwise review today. I need this reminder that maturity does not equip me for the next challenge.

A zinnia from the casket spray from my mother-in-law’s funeral on Saturday. She had zinnias in her yard in Little Rock. We had a blessed time remembering her with family on Saturday.

My wife had requested zinnias but the florist did not have any. But she was able to get them from someone else and they were a part of the spray. This flower, with its combination of red and yellow, would have been a favorite of mother-in-laws. It immediately caught my wife’s eye. Later that afternoon, she took it from the arrangement at the gravesite and brought it home.