Posts Tagged ‘strength’

Little is Much

{ July 13, 2008 @ 2:30 pm } · { Music/Links }
{ Tags: , , , , , , , , } · { Comments (1) }

This is a great song, very encouraging…I was thinking about it because this last week I assisted at a girls’ conference at my church. They had me co-lead a small group, and I remember thinking “Oh, I hope I don’t mess these kiddos up too much!” But God works through our “just enough” to make His plenty and overflow!

(The video is a slideshow of pictures to go with the song. 🙂 )

What is the measure of a life well lived
If all I can offer seems too small to give
This is a song for the weaker, the poorer
And so-called failures

Little is much when God’s in it
And no one can fathom the plans He holds
Little is much when God’s in it
He changes the world with the seeds we sow
Little is much, little is much

Who feels tired and under-qualified
Who feels deserted, and hung out to dry
This is a song for the broken, the beat-up
And so-called losers
Little is much when God’s in it
And no one can fathom the plans He holds
Little is much when God’s in it
He changes the world with the seeds we sow
Little is much, little is much

Consider a Kingdom in the smallest seed
Consider that giants fall to stones and slings
Consider a Child in a manger
Consider the story isn’t over
What can be done with what you still have

Little is much when God’s in it
And no one can fathom the plans He holds
Little is much when God’s in it
He changes the world with the seeds we sow
Little is much, little is much

Little is much when God’s in it
And no one can fathom the plans He holds
Little is much when God’s in it
He changes the world with the seeds we sow
Little is much, little is much

Gluesticks

{ July 4, 2008 @ 11:30 pm } · { Musings }
{ Tags: , , , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

Too often, I feel like a gluestick.

The liquid glue sticks stuff together so much better than a gluestick does, but it takes longer to dry. And you can pull stuff a gluestick has glued together apart so much more easily than you can with liquid glue or hot glue.

Why even use a gluestick at all? Why not just slap two pieces of paper together and call it good?

Then I realise: paper doesn’t just randomly stick to itself. It needs some sort of adhesive. And sometimes, it just needs a temporary adhesive that can be pulled apart later. Sometimes it needs a fast adhesive that won’t take forever to dry. Sometimes you can’t have heat for hot glue. Sometimes a gluestick is just right.

I think I’m God’s gluestick: not the strongest, not the most durable, lacking the finest preparation, but sometimes…just right.

Just right when words from the foolish are needed to shame the wise.

Just right when weakness is needed to shame the strong.

Just right when poverty is needed to shame the rich.

Just right when youth and inexperience is needed to shame age and experience.

Just right when one small candle is needed to illuminate a dark cavern.

Just right when a small spark is needed to set an entire forest ablaze.

Just right for God’s purposes. He knows what He’s doing. He uses gluesticks for a reason.

A New Step

{ May 7, 2008 @ 8:31 pm } · { Declarations }
{ Tags: , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

“Wish I…” is gone. “Wish I…” died yesterday. “I will…” lives here now.

What’s “Wish I…”? That’s not strong. That’s not victory. That’s defeatism.

“Wish I…” is a challenge for a new day. “Wish I…” is fear talking, not hope.

“Wish I…” is dead. “I will…” killed it. “All things are possible…” killed it. “Victory in Jesus” killed it. I don’t need to listen to “Wish I…” or its cousin “I can’t…” ever again.

Jump.

Strength

{ April 17, 2008 @ 4:17 pm } · { Musings }
{ Tags: , , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

When are we strongest?

Is it when no one else can see any problems in our lives and we seem invincible? Or is it really when we are able to overcome our pride enough to go to someone and say, “Hey…I need help. I can’t go through this alone”? Are we stronger then?

I once heard a story. In it, a wise man told a young boy that he could fight his fear and win, because he was bigger than his fear. Fear he pointed out, was inside the boy, and surely the boy was bigger than anything inside him. The same could be said of pride. Surely we can be bigger and stronger than our pride. It’s inside us. Surely we can fight it and win.

Sometimes asking for help isn’t what you may think. Sometimes, a person may scream for help in many little ways, not necessarily with their mouth:

  • They seek extra attention
  • They get quiet
  • They act out
  • They leave things undone
  • They deliberately offend others

All to get someone to realise that they need help to go through their situation. But all too often, it’s not realised and the person continues to walk alone.

So are we stronger when we overcome our pride and ask for help? Admit that we can’t face every obstacle alone?

I think that sometimes strength is misunderstood. If you’re strong, we figure you don’t have to fight any more. All foes should be scared off. But that’s not what it means. Sometimes strength is getting up…again. It’s saying “no” one more time. It’s opening your eyes in the morning, looking yourself in the mirror and deciding that, just for today, you will work your hardest to reach your dreams, no matter the obstacles. It’s being real enough to cry, yet determined enough to keep walking through those tears. It’s looking around you, seeing the world crash in, and being survivor enough to start looking for usable pieces of rubble to rebuild.

Strength isn’t proved by the absence of challenge. It’s proved by how you handle it.

You have two choices: you beat it, or it beats you. So which is it?