Opportunity part 3
In our weakness, God is strong. Because in our weakness God has the opportunity to be strong. He IS always strong. And He IS our strength. That's the truth and the truth never changes. What changes is whether or not we know and believe the truth. Whether or not, in a sense, we let the truth BE true for us. Because its the truth that you know and believe that sets you free and makes you free. Again: The truth is the truth. That can never and will never change. But it can be true that someone puts money in your bank account... and yet, unless you KNOW its in there... it really doesn't do you much good. And, even more powerfully, when we know how that money got there... that's when we can REALLY enjoy it. Because if all of a sudden you check your account, and there's more than you expected, you might not want to spend it. You might think its a mistake. But if you know that it was a gift... that's when you can spend that money guilt free! Its almost like having a gift card. You CAN'T pay bills with it if you want to. You HAVE TO go out and enjoy yourself. That's what this glorious truth is: It is what equips and empowers us to go out and enjoy our lives. Jesus came that we might have LIFE, and that more abundantly. Jesus came that we might have HIS life. That's why He GAVE us His life. His Spirit. His heart. His love. But when He gave it to us He didn't force it on us. When He gave it to us He made it available to us. All throughout the Old Testament God would tell the people of Israel what they should do. But He generally let them do what they wanted to do. Because that's the measure of free will that He has given us. We don't HAVE to do, well, pretty much anything, really. People say all you have to do is pay taxes and die, but there are people out there who don't pay taxes--for the record I'm NOT saying you shouldn't pay your taxes--and there are people in the Bible who never died. My point is: God is always looking for an opportunity to do what He does. Which is love. To be who He is. Which is love. God IS love. But love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love lets people be who they are. If you think you can do something... I think in large part God will let you try to do it. I think God protects us from a LOT of things that we aren't even aware of, but that's another Rant for another time. For today, what I'm trying to say is: When we STOP trying to do it ourselves, that's when God can really show up. And by "show up" I mean "show out." Because He's in us. He shows up when WE show up. When we stop working (Spiritually), and start resting in Him, that's the opportunity He's looking for. When we bring Him a broken heart, that's when He can MEND that broken heart. I heard a preacher say it like this, "When you work... God will rest. When you rest... God will work." And the key here is that He works IN us. In us, and through us, and as us. So when we rest, that's when we get the most done. Because we're not forcing it. Its flowing. Flowing from within. When we know what's inside (LOVE), it has the opportunity to come out. Because we're not trying to GET anything, but we're simply GIVING what we've already got. We're not trying to be someone we're not, or get something we haven't got it. We're simply giving God an opportunity to be who He really is, and in doing so... be who we really are!