Using The Right Tool

I think the first time that I really started to conceptualize the concept of God helping to strengthen us physically was back in the early 1980’s.  After much seeking of the Lord’s guidance, my wife and I decided to leave the church we had been attending.  We felt that we were spiritually starving and had concerns about raising our budding family in that atmosphere.  Don’t get me wrong… It was a loving family centered church, but they never seemed to get beyond the Salvation message, and while I understand the paramount importance of this foundational truth of the Gospel, it is only the beginning of the journey of the Christian’s walk.  We both felt a gnawing hunger for the meat of the Word that the Apostle Paul talked about.

For months prior to this I kept noticing a tiny ad in the newspaper advertising a new church that was pastored by a graduate of Rhema Bible College in Tulsa Oklahoma.  Since we had been acquainted with that ministry for many years, we decided to give it a try.  The first service that we attended was on January first of that year and we never left.  A remnant of that fellowship stayed together through two other churches and was the foundation of the one we currently attend.

That tiny little fellowship called Faith Christian Fellowship was totally different to the large denominational church my wife had attended with her family since birth and then with me for the first eight years of our marriage.  And besides everything else, it met in a small room in a large old motel at the bad end of town.  You know what though, none of that mattered!  The depth of understanding that the Pastor brought to us from the Word was outstanding!  The satisfaction and awe that we felt as we went home each Sunday and Wednesday night far outweighed any inconvenience or lack of tradition!

It was in that bland hotel room where the Pastor’s wife first opened up my understanding of the reality of Romans 8:11 as she shared from her King James Bible.  “…he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you.”  The idea of trusting God for your energy was a little foreign for both my wife and I.

We had come from different ends of the spectrum.  In my wife’s family sleep and naps held a high priority.  In mine, we learned to push ourselves in order to complete any task we endeavored to accomplish.  Naps were relatively unheard of unless we were recovering from a cold or the flu.  This revelation from the Word was actually quite freeing for both of us.  After learning this my wife didn’t have to always be concerned with wearing herself out and I didn’t have to always relay on my own strength.

God in His all-knowing wisdom and love for us has given us the practical tools that we need to be successful in this life (see II Peter 1:3).  Our job is to search them out and then learn to correctly use them!  This isn’t always as easy as it sounds, but the rewards are worth the effort that we put out in order to take Him at His Word!  Have a great weekend.  Let Him be your strength, stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting TO LEARN today?”