I recently watched Alice in Wonderland and it taught me a few things.
The first and most important thing that I learned is that I CAN do 6 impossible things before breakfast (metaphorically speaking).
1. I traveled to both China and Africa
2. I went three states away to attend a Christian University
3. I competed in a pageant and won a scholarship
4. I got to see and be fully emerged in the Pacific Ocean
5. I got chosen to dance with the characters in the middle of the Disney Land parade (and I did it)
6. ****________________**** (this one is for future adventures) :D
Phillippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength", and this is the truth. So many times I have focused on what I cannot do, what about ALL of the things that I can do. Now. I am here for a purpose and a season (however long or short), and my desire is to serve God NOW. Why wait until things are "better", will they ever really be better? The fact is that we have limitations, but the truth is that God does not. I am sick of saying I can't because of this or that...I can, just because God is, just because he loves me.
I know that it is silly to take such a life lesson away from a "secular" movie, but maybe just maybe this is another way God works. Maybe it was him whispering to me, "YOU CAN".
"There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say to survive it: You need to be mad as a hatter"
"Which Luckily I am" (Alice in Wonderland)
Friday, March 19, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Perfect Power
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is suffient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therfore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
Grace is defined as divine love and protection bestowed freely on people. Sometimes I seem to be so completely overwhelmed by my fears and failures. I am nothing, in and of myself. Yet God chooses to Love me through my failures, and he protects me through my fears. God chose me! Jesus told me that not only does he give me grace, but that is it suffient for me. "Being as much as is needed" is how it is literally defined.To think that God gives me as much divine love and protection as I need is amazing. Living in suffient grace, however, is a demanding task. To live in suffient grace I must carry my cross, and in essence, be weak. It is such a hard task to be weak. Human nature yells for me to be strong and capable, "survival of the fittest" constantly pounded into my heads. Yet Jesus tells me that in my weakness his power is perfected. I always wonder, what does God's perfect power look like? Maybe it resembles the first smile of a baby, or maybe it is that look on a new believers face. But can perfect power be SO simple? To embrace weakness terrifies me. What would my friends say if I admit that "I am not alright", what might they say about me as a leader, a friend, a christian? Yet, Paul shows me that not only should I be weak, but I should boast about it. Imagine, boasting about my weakness, it would require complete humility, something that is so hard for many of us. To push this even further, he boasts gladly. I know that when I am weak I am not proud, and especially not happy. I fear others seeing my weaknesses, and can hardly imagine boasting gladly about them. This seems so contrary to everthing I have ever been taught. However, maybe weakness is good. Maybe being weak connects me to God in a way that was destroyed when sin entered the world. I long for Christ's power in my life, his perfect power. In this world vulnerability, care, emotion, and true worship often label people as weak, or soft. Well, I want to be weak. I want Christ's power to rest on me. After all his grace is suffient to cover my entire life.
But he said to me, "My grace is suffient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therfore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
Grace is defined as divine love and protection bestowed freely on people. Sometimes I seem to be so completely overwhelmed by my fears and failures. I am nothing, in and of myself. Yet God chooses to Love me through my failures, and he protects me through my fears. God chose me! Jesus told me that not only does he give me grace, but that is it suffient for me. "Being as much as is needed" is how it is literally defined.To think that God gives me as much divine love and protection as I need is amazing. Living in suffient grace, however, is a demanding task. To live in suffient grace I must carry my cross, and in essence, be weak. It is such a hard task to be weak. Human nature yells for me to be strong and capable, "survival of the fittest" constantly pounded into my heads. Yet Jesus tells me that in my weakness his power is perfected. I always wonder, what does God's perfect power look like? Maybe it resembles the first smile of a baby, or maybe it is that look on a new believers face. But can perfect power be SO simple? To embrace weakness terrifies me. What would my friends say if I admit that "I am not alright", what might they say about me as a leader, a friend, a christian? Yet, Paul shows me that not only should I be weak, but I should boast about it. Imagine, boasting about my weakness, it would require complete humility, something that is so hard for many of us. To push this even further, he boasts gladly. I know that when I am weak I am not proud, and especially not happy. I fear others seeing my weaknesses, and can hardly imagine boasting gladly about them. This seems so contrary to everthing I have ever been taught. However, maybe weakness is good. Maybe being weak connects me to God in a way that was destroyed when sin entered the world. I long for Christ's power in my life, his perfect power. In this world vulnerability, care, emotion, and true worship often label people as weak, or soft. Well, I want to be weak. I want Christ's power to rest on me. After all his grace is suffient to cover my entire life.
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