Tag Archives: ability

August 18, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Finding New Strength

If you Google the word “exhausted,” you’ll get a definition that says, “Drained of one’s physical or mental resources; very tired.” Does that word describe you right now? Our bodies can be so physically drained that they refuse to get up in the mornings, to lift the heavy objects you want to move, or to get where you need to go. Our mind can get so stressed and drained that it’s hard to care about things or even make an effort in a relationship where one is needed. Exhausted is a dangerous state of being that we need to avoid.

God recognizes that you and I can get exhausted. In Isaiah 40:29 it says, “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless” (NLT). The word power in its original context meant ability. The word weak translates as exhausted. So when you read it like that, God gives ability to those who are exhausted. God wants to help us when we’ve lost the ability to accomplish things because we are exhausted, especially the things He’s called us to do.

I can attest to the fact that the work God calls you and I to can be very exhausting mentally and physically. He knows that if we are exhausted, we won’t accomplish His will. The 31st verse tells us, “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength” (NLT). We can’t go about the Father’s business in our own strength or mental fortitude if we want to be effective long term. We must trust that God will give us ability where we have none, strength where we are weak, and hope when we are in despair.

God asks us to do things that are beyond our ability so that we will trust Him. He’s interested more in your obedience and willingness than in your strength and intellect. He doesn’t need you in order to accomplish anything, yet He chooses to partner with you to enact His will. If you’re willing to step out in faith and to trust Him, He’s willing to give you the ability and strength you lack. You can be exhausted from doing all your other duties and still have the strength to do what God wants as long as you put your trust in Him.

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March 27, 2013 · 7:30 AM

Break Your Box

It was Wednesday of Holy Week and Jesus was a guest in the home of Simon the leper. While He was reclining at the table, a woman from the village silently walked in the room. Every eye was on her and the alabaster box she was carrying. The fragrance peeked through the box giving those around her a tease of the pure Nard that was inside. Suddenly, without warning, she broke the box and poured the perfume on Christ. The fragrance permeated the house. I imagine everyone closed their eyes and drank in the smell of this perfume with a slow, purposeful breath through their noses.

There was no undoing of this gesture. The box had been broken and all of the perfume purposefully poured out on Jesus. When others criticized her for her actions, Jesus said in Mark 14:8, “She has done what she could.” He accepted her offering and it was a sweet, savory smell to Him. No one else in the room had the will to do what she had done, though they all had the ability. We each have the ability to do great things for God, it’s having the will to do them that stops most of us.

Like the disciples and others in the room, we start adding up the cost of doing something for God and find all the reasons we can’t or shouldn’t do them. We allow our minds to tell us, “It’s not worth it. Your resources are better spent elsewhere.” All these excuses come in that keep us from being obedient. We also wonder what others might think if we do what God has called us to do. But not this lady. She didn’t care what the others thought, and neither did Jesus!

In fact, He said that wherever the Gospel would be preached, what she did will be told about. A single act of obedience has been told all over the world over a couple of thousand years. Why? Because she had the will, not just the ability. We wish we had her kind of will power to do something so extravagant, so costly for Christ. We all have the ability in us to do it. We just lack her will. We lack her recklessness.

I don’t know if she had doubts. I’m sure she did. She was probably even scared, but she didn’t let those things stop her. She knew once she broke the box, there was no turning back. Once she broke the box, she was committed. So she walked in and broke it immediately before doubt, the disciples or fear could stop her. She poured out this costly perfume on Jesus even though His own disciples criticized her. She wasn’t concerned about their approval. She was concerned about His.

What box have you been holding that has your precious gift in it? What’s keeping you from breaking it and using it for Christ? You have the ability to do what He called you to do. You have the strength to do it. It’s time to get the will to do it no matter what others say. If you are holding it back because of others, remember that it’s not their approval you seek. It’s His. Step out and break that box today. Let your story be told wherever the Gospel is preached.

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