Skip to main content

My Too-Short Arms

Happy new year!!

Yes, I know it's almost May, but this is my first blog post of the year and I thought it was appropriate to greet you all properly.

Anyway, I have been meaning to write. So much has happened and so much needs to be said, but I have been putting it off. Not sure why exactly. Perhaps, I have just been fighting against the inevitable. Actually, that is exactly the reason.

James Weldon Johnson has a poem called, Prodigal Son, where the speaker proclaims that the subject's arms are too short to box with God.

That's me. Desperately trying to spar with the Creator, but my arms are too short. The end result? No punches have landed, I'm fighting the air...and I'm tired.

God's sovereign will is a heckuva thing to come against. So why do we try?

I wish I had an answer for that. Something about the human will seeks to exalt itself. It began happening in the Garden of Eden and has been occurring ever since.

Oh yeah, we sing songs like, "Sweet will of God, still fold me closer to I am wholly lost in Thee" and we pray prayers telling the Almighty that we want His will to be done, not ours. Yet as soon as He asserts His will, we balk and cry and complain.

Or maybe that is just me, so let me speak for myself.

Well, no more! I am raising my white flag in surrender and drawing a line in the sand. This is it. God's will or bust! Who's with me?

Seriously, who's with me? Let me know.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ride or Die

I love this phrase. There are quite a few subtle variations on the meaning, but it is an urban colloquialism that means loyalty, no matter what. I thank God that I have been blessed with a few people that have that kind of loyalty to me and I to them. It's a rich blessing that have true friends. They are with me and in my corner no matter what (or "regardless of what" as one of them would say). This week we had Vacation Bible School at my church and I was privileged to be a teacher. The first lesson was taken from Daniel chapter three. The very well known story of the three Hebrew boys: Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego. It is a wonderful story of faith, but something jumped out at me so profoundly that it almost knocked me over. We always focus on the deliverance. But the Hebrew boys did not. Their focus was on God and Him alone. They were ride or die for the Lord. Literally. If you read the story, they never once pray for deliverance. They talk about God's a...
2 comments
Read more

Follow The Leader

In 1988, Robert Fulghum wrote a book called "All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten." He also wrote a  poem  by the same name. The title is comical at first until you realise that some of the basic principles for a successful life (e.g. clean up your own mess, don't take things that aren't yours, share everything, etc.) are kindergarten lessons. One of my favorite kindergarten rituals was when we had to line up to go to lunch or recess or anywhere, really. Remember how we used to have to line up in a straight line? The teacher's only instruction was to follow the line leader. And the line leader followed the teacher. If you did that, you wouldn't stray or get lost and you would end up where you were supposed to go. As Christians, all we really need to know for a successful Christian walk is this same principle learned in kindergarten: follow the Leader. Obviously our Leader is Christ. If we follow Him, we won't go astray, we cannot get los...
2 comments
Read more

Simple Mathematics

If you're like me, you're probably thinking there is no such thing as "simple" mathematics... and the picture above does not help! For some of us, even the simplest calculations require technological assistance. But don't lose heart, loved one! The equation I am about to give you is so simple even a pre-school student can understand it (I think!). So here it is, in the form of an "if/then" statement: If a=b, then b=a Simple, right? Of course it is because it is logical. The equal sign ("=") means that whatever is on either side of that sign is the same. So even if you reverse the order in which you list the items on either side of that equal sign, they are still equal. So then, how does this simple premise, simple equation apply to this inconvenient Christian journey. Here it is: Christian = Christ follower, Christ follower = Christian.  Again, simple, no? Or is it? It seems to me that we as Christians do not always act like Christ ...
4 comments
Read more