Good morning, Samara.
Things are crazy busy around here—getting in the way of pumping out these devotionals for several days in your direction. This whole frenzy of getting ready to depart for Vanuatu in less than 3 days is getting intense and heavy. Even the pressure to become a kind of scholar when I’m not one is looming big.
In harmony with the basic message below, I went on YOUTUBE and just listened again to a song by Larnel Harris, “I GO TO THE ROCK.” I confess that I cried. I suggest that you have a listen too, Samara. I don’t want to require that you necessarily LIKE this version of music, even though I do—or that you cry like I did. But I sure want to LIKE the basic message contained in that song—as a chosen standard for doing life. I think it’s your only HOPE. Check it out: I GO TO THE ROCK by Larnel Harris.
And have a great day.
Love, Tua.
If I take this at face value, I have to squirm. How can I avoid the conclusion that I’m simply a WEAKLING if and when I falter or fail? That’s not very self-inflating! Not very self-flattering!
Hey!—just a minute, Samara—all of a sudden it’s like a light bulb comes on! It’s like I’m seeing things in their proper perspective. It leads me to this conclusion: IT’S TRUE—I AM A WEAKLING!
The well-known Sunday School song comes to mind—“Jesus Loves Me”—with the line, “I am weak, but He is strong.” Duh! Of course!
So what exactly is MY STRENGTH?—and where does it come from? Is it measured by how much weight I can lift? How fast I can run? How high I can jump? Here’s where the dynamic of God’s Word kicks in to correct my thinking. The resounding theme through Scripture is that “the LORD is my strength” (Ex. 15:2; Ps. 18:1; 28:7; 59:9; 118:14; Is. 12:2; Jer. 16:9; Hab. 3:19—just to list a few). Therefore, IF the LORD IS MY STRENGTH, what is really happening when I falter and fail? Either I have a wimpy weakling Lord, or I am wimpy and weak by not exercising my strength resource—by not walking or living as close to my STRONG LORD, and drawing from His strength, as I can and should.
So how large is the volume of strength available to me? Let me answer with this quote: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8). That sure sounds big to me! Extravagantly big!