Reason #252
This week has been crazy, absolutely crazy. My feet hurt, my brain hurts, my eyes hurt. All the days of the week have run together, too. I can't even remember what I did yesterday. Today, about 3:00, I finally felt it. Challenged to my full thinking capacity doing something that didn't even require that much thought. And I started to feel flustered for no reason. Flustered because I'm just not used to this. Flustered because I have been a little out of my element this week. I have been stretched and pulled and was forced to be flexible. But like all challenges in life, with each one, growth occurs and you are used in ways you didn't expect.
Before I crawled into bed last night, I took one last look at my phone and saw that I had a Facebook message. I read over the short, incredibly encouraging and completely unexpected message. My heart swelled as I just couldn't believe it. My mind went back to many years ago and I thought how ironic God had worked things out just so that my message sender would personally know me, not just know of me. Of course, all those years ago we had no clue what our futures held, and we sure didn't know that we'd have an even deeper understanding of one another's circumstances. But God knew the challenges we would face, yes, He knew.
Challenges come and sometimes we think our challenges are unique to us. Only we understand, only we know how it feels. No one else can relate. No one else has the slightest idea. And so we begin to feel very alone. An outcast, an odd ball. But the funny thing is, there's a big group of "outcasts" and "odd balls," but we just can't see the forest for the trees. And so, with every challenge we face, growth occurs. It's inevitable, in fact. Like the old saying goes, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But I just need to be honest and say that growth is exhausting, and some times being strong isn't your main obejective anyway. When you face a challenge, it can wear you out. Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Some times your head hurts from all of the thinking, your eyes hurt from all of the crying, your heart hurts from all of the hoping, and your spirit is drained from all of the above. So, how can one gain strength when you feel nothing but weak? And how can one possibly be used in such bleak situations, in such dire circumstances?
I don't know the answer to that. I really don't. But I know it's possible. I know the truth behind Paul's words, "My power is made perfect in your weakness." (2 Corinthians 2:19) Because it really is. His power is made perfect in our weakness, and I've come to see it first hand. A girl who has been drained of it all, felt like a burden, and could hardly keep it together somehow did. But by no strength of my own. Not by sheer determination nor by a strong support system, but by a powerful God. A God who will use you even when it doesn't seem possible, even when you don't expect it in ways you would never expect. A God who will be glorified even when the mess seems too out of hand. A God who may wait for many years in between to use you, but He will. Offer Him your weakness, and He'll most definitely use it.
So the stretching hurts a little. The pulling can be quite exhausting. And it's hard, really hard, to be outside of your element. It's hard to forced out of your comfort zone. But there's hope in it all. Because we serve a God who has all the power, perfect power. And He loves to use imperfect people, weak ones who have no clue what they are doing most days, to dispay His goodness and His unfailing love. And the challenges, well, they turn in to opportunities for growth. Opportunities to gain wisdom, strength, knowledge and to display His power in ways you never thought possible.
#252 - Because He uses us even when we don't expect it in ways we would never expect.
O nations of the world, recognize the Lord, recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! - 1 Chronicles 16:28-29
Before I crawled into bed last night, I took one last look at my phone and saw that I had a Facebook message. I read over the short, incredibly encouraging and completely unexpected message. My heart swelled as I just couldn't believe it. My mind went back to many years ago and I thought how ironic God had worked things out just so that my message sender would personally know me, not just know of me. Of course, all those years ago we had no clue what our futures held, and we sure didn't know that we'd have an even deeper understanding of one another's circumstances. But God knew the challenges we would face, yes, He knew.
Challenges come and sometimes we think our challenges are unique to us. Only we understand, only we know how it feels. No one else can relate. No one else has the slightest idea. And so we begin to feel very alone. An outcast, an odd ball. But the funny thing is, there's a big group of "outcasts" and "odd balls," but we just can't see the forest for the trees. And so, with every challenge we face, growth occurs. It's inevitable, in fact. Like the old saying goes, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But I just need to be honest and say that growth is exhausting, and some times being strong isn't your main obejective anyway. When you face a challenge, it can wear you out. Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Some times your head hurts from all of the thinking, your eyes hurt from all of the crying, your heart hurts from all of the hoping, and your spirit is drained from all of the above. So, how can one gain strength when you feel nothing but weak? And how can one possibly be used in such bleak situations, in such dire circumstances?
I don't know the answer to that. I really don't. But I know it's possible. I know the truth behind Paul's words, "My power is made perfect in your weakness." (2 Corinthians 2:19) Because it really is. His power is made perfect in our weakness, and I've come to see it first hand. A girl who has been drained of it all, felt like a burden, and could hardly keep it together somehow did. But by no strength of my own. Not by sheer determination nor by a strong support system, but by a powerful God. A God who will use you even when it doesn't seem possible, even when you don't expect it in ways you would never expect. A God who will be glorified even when the mess seems too out of hand. A God who may wait for many years in between to use you, but He will. Offer Him your weakness, and He'll most definitely use it.
So the stretching hurts a little. The pulling can be quite exhausting. And it's hard, really hard, to be outside of your element. It's hard to forced out of your comfort zone. But there's hope in it all. Because we serve a God who has all the power, perfect power. And He loves to use imperfect people, weak ones who have no clue what they are doing most days, to dispay His goodness and His unfailing love. And the challenges, well, they turn in to opportunities for growth. Opportunities to gain wisdom, strength, knowledge and to display His power in ways you never thought possible.
#252 - Because He uses us even when we don't expect it in ways we would never expect.
O nations of the world, recognize the Lord, recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! - 1 Chronicles 16:28-29