Give Me Strength

Before I even start to explain what God showed me this week, let me go ahead and make one thing clear. I do not think it is wrong to ask God to give you strength. Without Him, we have no strength or power or boldness or wisdom or peace or joy.... or anything. I ask God to give me strength many times a day because strength is one of the things I lack the most. There are many many days that I wake up and say "God, unless you give me physical strength right now, I cannot get out of this bed much less do the things you have for me to do today.

That having been said, God said something a little different to me this week. Our church is going to be hosting the Deep South Quartet Convention on March 18th and 19th. It will be a packed weekend. I know for sure that I will be blessed, but I also want to be used by God to be a blessing to other people. On top of that, a couple of my bestest best friends, Scott and Lisa Roberts (Broken Vessels) will be coming the weekend before. WooHoo!! I am so excited! The first time I met them, I was at a very low place physically. That was during our "Breakthrough Weekend". I was there for every session, but it was so, so hard for my body. My spirit was dancing though. As it has gotten closer to our time together and the Quartet Convention, I have been praying for all that God has planned for that time but also I have been begging Him to give me the physical strength to be a part of everything, to be able to enjoy my sweet friends, and to be able to minister to people without being absolutely miserable. I told Lisa that I was praying for that.

As this week has gone on, God has spoken to me about that in many different ways. I don't know if He was giving me confirmation or if He was just trying to get it through my thick head. First, He reminded me of 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me." Yes, of course I want Christ's power to rest on me. I have none on my own.

He needed to show me this in one other way just to be sure that I get it. I was reading from "Come Away My Beloved" by Frances J. Roberts. Here is a little excerpt from a section entitled "Sacrifice, My Status Symbol". "You would make Christianity pleasant and acceptable. Your Saviour did not find it so. You would make it comfortable and accomodating to your own schedule. He knew nothing of such a false religion. Lonely nights, He wrestled in prayer nor spared Himself physical discomfort. Yes, and the more you pamper the flesh as to bodily comfort, the more it will demand of you, until you become its servant." Wow! God did not promise me that He is going to make the next few weeks easy, comfortable, or pain-free for me, but He did promise that He will show Himself strong. Lisa, please share with Scott "I feel like I know how to pray for you in a way that alot of people cannot. Be encouraged, dear brother, that He shows Himself even mightier in your life when you are in pain. The things you endure daily glorify and lift Him up. I will continue to pray for you physically, but much more that others will see Jesus in you."

Christians, how often do we put our own comfort and convenience before what God is telling us to do? That is going to be a hard one to explain someday when we stand before Him.

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