Skip to main content

Get Out of the Way

                I grew up valuing toughness.  I blew out my knee playing football in high school. Though it was black and blue for three months and I could not bend it in the morning, I did not go to the doctor.  Several times, I have had to teach on Sunday morning with deep gashes on my face after being cut with a stick or a puck while playing hockey.    My only regret is that they did not leave better scars.  In the thirty years that I have worked for the church, I have used eight sick days.  To me, being tough is a good thing.
                Imagine my joy, then, when I decided to preach through 2 Timothy!  This letter is full of words like, “guard” (2 Timothy 1:14), “Be strong” (2:1) and “endure” (2:3).  In fact, those three words were going to form my sermon this past week, until I read the verses more closely.
                “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1).  Other versions say, “Be empowered by” or “Find the source of your strength” in the grace of Jesus.  Timothy was not asked to be courageous and to step up.  Rather, he was told to do the work of God by the power of God.  
                Also, Timothy was told to guard the gift he was given, but he was to do so “by the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in you” (2 Timothy 1:14).  Again, it was not about Timothy’s strength, but about his ability to submit and let God work through him.
                How many blessings have we forfeited because we thought we could run God’s church by our own strength?   How many preachers, Sunday school teachers, and elders have burned out because they tried to carry the load alone?  How much joy did we miss by trying to tough it out?
                If Timothy, with all the advantages he had, could not do God’s work by his own strength, what chance would I have of doing it that way?
                Fortunately, our toughness was never God’s concern in the first place.
                “We constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith” (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: The Biggest Problem Is Not Out There!

In a time when everyone has a vocal opinion on everything and judgment is everywhere, maybe we need to reconsider the words of Jesus. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).  Here are two observations to consider. First, when we look for what others are doing wrong, we are starting in the wrong place.  “Take the log out of your eye” is the first move.  Start with yourself!  It is easy to judge others and make excuses for ourselves.  Yet, that is completely backwards! If we are honest, we never get past making ourselves better.  There is always more to do.  This, then, leaves very little time to point out...
Post a Comment
Read more