More often than not Christians discover their own weakness, and learn to rely upon the power of the Lord through bitter experience. The thought of the young Christian is, that his life will be triumphant henceforward; and though others may be weak and fail, he is confident, as was Simon of old, that he is able to stand for the Lord, no matter how great the opposition. Then comes the galling failure and the great disappointment, until finally the lesson is learnt that no good or strength dwells in us, and all power and grace is in the Lord.
To illustrate: A little boy is put for the first time into a boy's suit of clothes. How proud he is of his new possession. His babyhood is passed, and he is a man in his own regard. His father proposes a walk and he is delighted.
It is the winter time and the footpath is very slippery, so father says, "You had better take my hand, my boy." But the boy is not prepared for this, he might have done so yesterday, for he was only a baby then, but not today, for he is a man now and can walk alone.
So on he strides with head erect, until he comes to a part of the road more treacherous than the rest, and down he goes, ere ever he is aware of danger. His pride is humbled, but he needs another fall, and perhaps still another, before he ceases to trust his own ability, and puts his hand into his father's to walk the rest of the way in safety.
How blessed to know that in spite of our self-sufficiency there walks by our side One who will never forsake us, and that He patiently waits until we are prepared to put our hand, in entire dependence, into His, and so henceforward prove the blessed fact that He is able to keep us from falling (Jude 24).