Glory to God and other stories
So this really happened...
We were installing doors on an airplane, which involves the compression of springs. It's tough to do this by hand, but possible if you have strong hands.
I don't. But I understand that with some help from above, I can do this. And I did, the first time. Things matched up, the spring stayed compressed and we got the pin in the door in about a minute.
My co-worker said "You must be living right."
I stopped and thought for a split second about giving glory to where it belonged and chose to instead tell him that it wasn't that hard if you knew what you were doing. I tried to take the glory for myself, and I'm telling you, the conviction was instant. I corrected myself almost immediately, and told him,
"Watch. I won't be able to do this one because I tried to take the credit for myself."
And I couldn't.
The glory is not mine and I don't want it. The glory for the things I do goes to God. My talents and abilities are gifts He gives to me and when I succeed it's because of Him. I only stopped a second, but it was enough, and I'm grateful for the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the instant failure of my own abilities apart from God.
Fast forward a day or two and we're installing the other door. Same setup. Same springs. And this time, glory to God. Both went right together. And I gave the credit where it was due. I also pointed out to my co-worker that's what happens when you give Him the glory.
Don't steal God's glory; not that He will let you.
The week past has been a lot about following God's path. Lots and lots of stuff about it, and I think I am. I cannot believe God would allow me to walk so far down a road I'm believing He's taking me down without correcting my course. I have to trust in that. It just doesn't make a lot of sense.
I think part of that has to do with getting advice I don't intend on listening to. I did that once and I got here. I'm already here.....I don't need a trip around to right back here; a warning I got at the first of the year, and some stuff the last couple of weeks about going back to "Egypt."
I don't miss the cucumbers.
Nothing there for me.
So we move on from there. And it's nice to know for sure that some of the things that were going on weren't God leading me down a different path. I asked. He said no. I'm good with God's NO answers. Part of a lesson learned the very hard way.
Church: I was upset about something at church a few weeks ago, and I voiced that concern. In a way, I wish I hadn't, because we have elections for our church leaders. I voted for them. I don't need to tell them what to do. I need to trust that God has that covered. A still, small whisper of "Let Me" reminds me of that and did last week. God's doing just fine being God. He doesn't need my help, so I'm just going to let the church leaders do just that.
Lead.
Being a leader in my church is something I can't do. I can't be an elder, or in charge. There are Biblical reasons for that and it's part of paying for a past. Forgiven? Yes! Forgotten? As far as the East is from the West! Consequences? Sometimes they go on.
Having said that, it doesn't mean that I don't have an opinion or a voice. And I can share that in appropriate ways. But it also means that I have to trust God to lead the leaders of our church to where He wants them to go. Not to where I want us to go.
Again, God is doing a fine job of running His creation. I can serve where called and am grateful for those opportunities.
Next up: Strength.
The story of the doors also illustrates another thing: I'm not as strong as I think I am. Physically or emotionally. And lately, I've been at a weak point in life. God, though, has given me strength to hook up springs. He's given me strength to help my sons out in a crisis. He's given me rest when I've needed it but more strength to get through everything I've had to deal with in the last two or three weeks and the strength to get through it all without having to take any time off work.
I shared that with a couple of other people who needed some strength today. Prayed for them both and told one that God gave me strength I KNOW I didn't have to deal with everything that came my way last week.
To HIM be the Glory. There was a time that I would have folded up like a cheap lawn chair. Not so much anymore. He's giving me use of His strength to cope. It's one of the coolest things ever!
The big C church: Stuff is going on in the Big C church in America, and it's an interesting time to be a disciple. There are lots of things going on that break my heart, America. And it's starting to scare me. I like the Pope. I keep wanting to call him the new pope, but he's been around for a while now, and he isn't afraid to tell it like it is a lot of times. We should pay attention to what he is saying. And to what some of the Evangelical leaders are saying. My litmus test is to hold what the church leaders say against what the Bible says. And that makes me at odds with a lot of Evangelicals. I keep wondering if I missed a meeting or two, or why I believe in the same God but keep coming up with different conclusions about the environment, Government, loving the unlovable, caring for the poor, etc....
It's getting ugly. We should be part of getting positive discourse and discussion going. We can disagree without being enemies.
Other than that, figuring out what to make for dinner is the dilemma of the day. Chicken, but Parm? Schnitzel? Fried?
First world problems.
We were installing doors on an airplane, which involves the compression of springs. It's tough to do this by hand, but possible if you have strong hands.
I don't. But I understand that with some help from above, I can do this. And I did, the first time. Things matched up, the spring stayed compressed and we got the pin in the door in about a minute.
My co-worker said "You must be living right."
I stopped and thought for a split second about giving glory to where it belonged and chose to instead tell him that it wasn't that hard if you knew what you were doing. I tried to take the glory for myself, and I'm telling you, the conviction was instant. I corrected myself almost immediately, and told him,
"Watch. I won't be able to do this one because I tried to take the credit for myself."
And I couldn't.
The glory is not mine and I don't want it. The glory for the things I do goes to God. My talents and abilities are gifts He gives to me and when I succeed it's because of Him. I only stopped a second, but it was enough, and I'm grateful for the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the instant failure of my own abilities apart from God.
Fast forward a day or two and we're installing the other door. Same setup. Same springs. And this time, glory to God. Both went right together. And I gave the credit where it was due. I also pointed out to my co-worker that's what happens when you give Him the glory.
Don't steal God's glory; not that He will let you.
The week past has been a lot about following God's path. Lots and lots of stuff about it, and I think I am. I cannot believe God would allow me to walk so far down a road I'm believing He's taking me down without correcting my course. I have to trust in that. It just doesn't make a lot of sense.
I think part of that has to do with getting advice I don't intend on listening to. I did that once and I got here. I'm already here.....I don't need a trip around to right back here; a warning I got at the first of the year, and some stuff the last couple of weeks about going back to "Egypt."
I don't miss the cucumbers.
Nothing there for me.
So we move on from there. And it's nice to know for sure that some of the things that were going on weren't God leading me down a different path. I asked. He said no. I'm good with God's NO answers. Part of a lesson learned the very hard way.
Church: I was upset about something at church a few weeks ago, and I voiced that concern. In a way, I wish I hadn't, because we have elections for our church leaders. I voted for them. I don't need to tell them what to do. I need to trust that God has that covered. A still, small whisper of "Let Me" reminds me of that and did last week. God's doing just fine being God. He doesn't need my help, so I'm just going to let the church leaders do just that.
Lead.
Being a leader in my church is something I can't do. I can't be an elder, or in charge. There are Biblical reasons for that and it's part of paying for a past. Forgiven? Yes! Forgotten? As far as the East is from the West! Consequences? Sometimes they go on.
Having said that, it doesn't mean that I don't have an opinion or a voice. And I can share that in appropriate ways. But it also means that I have to trust God to lead the leaders of our church to where He wants them to go. Not to where I want us to go.
Again, God is doing a fine job of running His creation. I can serve where called and am grateful for those opportunities.
Next up: Strength.
The story of the doors also illustrates another thing: I'm not as strong as I think I am. Physically or emotionally. And lately, I've been at a weak point in life. God, though, has given me strength to hook up springs. He's given me strength to help my sons out in a crisis. He's given me rest when I've needed it but more strength to get through everything I've had to deal with in the last two or three weeks and the strength to get through it all without having to take any time off work.
I shared that with a couple of other people who needed some strength today. Prayed for them both and told one that God gave me strength I KNOW I didn't have to deal with everything that came my way last week.
To HIM be the Glory. There was a time that I would have folded up like a cheap lawn chair. Not so much anymore. He's giving me use of His strength to cope. It's one of the coolest things ever!
The big C church: Stuff is going on in the Big C church in America, and it's an interesting time to be a disciple. There are lots of things going on that break my heart, America. And it's starting to scare me. I like the Pope. I keep wanting to call him the new pope, but he's been around for a while now, and he isn't afraid to tell it like it is a lot of times. We should pay attention to what he is saying. And to what some of the Evangelical leaders are saying. My litmus test is to hold what the church leaders say against what the Bible says. And that makes me at odds with a lot of Evangelicals. I keep wondering if I missed a meeting or two, or why I believe in the same God but keep coming up with different conclusions about the environment, Government, loving the unlovable, caring for the poor, etc....
It's getting ugly. We should be part of getting positive discourse and discussion going. We can disagree without being enemies.
Other than that, figuring out what to make for dinner is the dilemma of the day. Chicken, but Parm? Schnitzel? Fried?
First world problems.
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