"And Avraham was 99... BE'HIMOLO - WHEN HE WAS CIRCUMCISED... on the flesh of his foreskin"
Shouldn't the posuk say "when he circumcised himself"?
Rashi quotes a Medrash:
'Avraham took a knife and took hold of his foreskin and wanted to cut. But he was afraid because he was old. What did Hashem do? He sent forth His hand, and held together with him. As the posuk says, "v'karos imo habris - and He cut with him the covenant." It does not say "for him", but "with him". This is found in Bereishis Rabbah 49:2 '
WOW!!!! See how from day one the bris was given to us! (actually, from day 8 :-)
What does the medrash mean that Avraham didn't have the strength? He was about to have another child! He ran that day and circumcised his entire household! Only 3 days later after being circumcised, he was running to serve his guests on the hottest day of the year! He lived another 76 years! Avraham should have been able to do it himself. Clearly he still had the physical strength required.
So why couldn't he? To teach us.
To teach us that one does not have the strength to keep the bris by himself, not even Avraham. One can only do it with the help of Hashem!!
Rabosai, the only way to be shomer habris is by giving it over to Hashem. Without giving it over to Hashem, it can not be done. We were not created with the strength to overcome this desire alone. That is why Hashem was "kores" the bris with Avraham - hand in hand.
This doesn't mean that we aren't required to do anything. The act itself of giving it over means we recognize Hashem as the creator of this world, Who created us and our desires. It shows we recognize what we really are, afar v'efer, and we cannot so much as move a pinky without Hashem willing it. This recognition of Hashem's complete control over the universe along with our inability to act without His will is the yesod of creation. This merits us the gift of overcoming our desires.
Plus, we have to do our part. We need to pick up the knife to cut. We have to be ready to have the lust cut out of our hearts. Like they discuss in the 12-Step groups how we often beg G-d to take it away from us so that we don't have to give it up ourselves. That won't work. We have to be ready to give it up.
"Being ready" means following the halochos of shmiras enayim. Don't look at what you shouldn't, avoid walking through bad places, and get a good filter. And every time we mess up, we need do something about it. Make the filter stronger, move the computer to another room, read the daily chizuk, and if needed get help! Tell a friend about your problem. Find an accountability partner. Call in to a 12 steps group. Join a live group. The solutions are endless.
Keep working at it. Just please don't try it alone - "v'charos IMO habris".