Tuesday - "Strengths"

2 Corinthians 12:10 (NLT2) 10That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

     I once tried to teach my daughter how to swim.  We both got into the pool and I placed my hand on her back and held her at the surface of the water.  As she started to splash her hands and kick her feet, I slowly removed my support from underneath.  She smiled and continued to "swim".  It was then that I noticed a change in her expression.  She was sinking.  The water was rising up to eye level and she didn't know what to do.  What was holding her up was gone and she was completely under her own power to stay afloat.   She kicked harder and faster but still continued her descent.  

 

Like any child would do, she started to panic.  She abandoned the techniques we had been working on and just tried to keep her head above the surface.  Her heart rate increased and her eyes began to fill up with tears.  She became desperate for someone to come back under her and lift her up to safety.  

Sound familiar?

Feel like you're drowning?  Debt.  Relational collapse.  Family trouble.  Work stress.  Health issues for you or a loved one?  It's hard sometimes.  Life is tough.  What can you do about it?

When crisis comes, many of us act like a struggling swimmer.  We abandon what we know will help us in hopes of just surviving.  We stop praying...stop going to church...stop giving of our resources...  We just flail around  in hopes that we will be able to stay afloat for a little while longer.  God didn't die on the cross for us to live lives of panic.

What many of us fail to realize is that God never leaves.  He is always there with us watching us learn lessons through our challenges that we couldn't get any other way.  Today's verse says that when we are weak...when we cry out and feel desparate...we are actually at our strongest.  Why?  Because it is at that point that we realize we can't do it all on our own.  The greatest part of it is that we never have to.  God is always there to lift us up and help us to swim again. 

 Now many of you are asking..."Why do we have to go through it in the first place?"  I have found in my years of ministry that crisis teaches us lessons and requires us to practice our faith.  If everything went smoothly all the time we would start to believe that we are actually strong enough to go through life without help...without God.   That isn't the case.

That day in the pool I never took my eyes off my little girl.   When she was weak she could depend on my strength to help her find her way to safety.  When we are weak...we have to depend on God's strength to help us.  It is then that we realize His power and His grace in our lives.

See you tomorrow,

Pastor Brian

Monday 1-28-08

Greetings Internet Campus,

This week we are looking at the first part in our Garage Sale series...Simplify your Spiritual Life...

The first step is to know God...to understand His position...

2 Chronicles 7:14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

If we're going to simplify our spiritual lives...we have to understand what position we hold in the universe. While we are God's masterpiece...we aren't God. Sometimes I forget that. I can't control the weather... I can't be everywhere at once...I can't change a single thing in my life by worrying about it...am I the only one that has tried to do these things?

Have you ever tried to be God?

In this verse from 2 Chronicles, we start by humbling ourselves. Realizing that God is God. He doesn't need our approval or permission to do what He wants. He doesn't need to explain Himself or His actions. He is God. And we are not. We are not His assistant...He is not our co-pilot. He is our creator and we are His creation.

If we really want to clean out what is stifling our spiritual growth...we have to start with understanding our role in all of this....we are to be loved on, forgiven, protected, healed, cared for, guided, favored, restored, disciplined, and redeemed by God. Humble yourself...understand your role...and give thanks for it. God is in control.

Write it Down: In your journal...write a prayer to God. In your prayer, ask God's forgiveness if you have ever tried to assume His role. Commit to humbling yourself daily and seeking His will for your life.

See you in the morning!
Pastor Brian