The Paradox of Power
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses…
for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians
12:10
One of the all-time best selling books, “The
Guinness Book of World Records,” started as a give-away booklet back in
1954. Three years earlier, Sir Hugh Beaver, joined a shooting
party in Ireland when an argument arose over which was the fastest bird in
Ireland, the golden plover or the grouse.
He found that there was no book to confirm it either way. As managing director of the Guinness
Breweries, Sir Hugh and others would commission a team to compile the Guinness
Book of Records selling 70,000 copies which would list records of all
kinds and multi-millions have sold today.
These records would include:
The World’s Shortest Man, Longest Snake, Highest
Mountain, Fastest Skateboard Speed, Oldest Living Person, Largest Chocolate
Bar, and Most Expensive Toy, to name a few. A few decades back, I
encountered Tim Roy, who was midstream in setting the Tree House Sitting Record
at Golf N’ Stuff in Downey, lasting 444 days.
But then records are made to be broken and his time on the treetop soon
faded.
When you read the Word of God, you can’t help but recognize
some of God’s great record setters.
The Bible boasts some of the All-Time Legends including Methuselah (oldest man at 969), Goliath (tallest man at 9 ½ feet), and
even Solomon (richest man) who would
have made Forbes Richest Entrepreneur
every year. However, the Bible also touts history’s strongest man who was named
Samson. Scripture’s superhero could lift city gates,
kill a lion with his bare hands, and take on a thousand people by himself, due
to the strength that God had given him. However he could not overcome the sin
that would ultimately bring his demise.
His inability to see its serious repercussions would bring about his sad
and tragic ending.
You see, there is only one thing that could defeat
the strongest man on earth, and that was sin.
There was only one kind of sin that could defeat him, and that was his
sin. Do not fail to understand that it
was sin that put his eyes out. It was
sin that put him in the chains. It was
sin that had him grinding at the wheel.
J. Oswald Sanders, in his book, “Robust in Faith,”
titles his chapter on Samson, “The Champion Who Became A Clown.” The Philistines dumped Samson in a
prison“…and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.” (Judges 16:21)
Many years ago, someone summed up the wages of
temptation in six tragic words: “Sin
blinds, sin binds, and sin grinds.” That is so true-so tragically
true…with Samson and with you and me. The Israelite champion was now reduced to
nothing more than a clown in a Philistine house of horrors.
The good news is we can learn from history. God declares, “In our weakness, He is made
strong!” When we declare we are
not sufficient that is when we become strong in Him. While most don’t want the title of most
dependent or reliant, in God’s economy it gets us much further in life.
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1)
What
struggle (temptation, attitude, etc) in your life is greater than your ability
to handle it?
2)
How
can we turn that area over to Christ today?
Consider reading God's Word today, click on image below for daily devotional:
Copyright 2014 - Terry Risser
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.