Good Friday morning! God has been good to us through all times, and we can trust him to be good through the current crisis as well. Did anyone notice that we made it though February? Rumors of something that did not come to pass pointed to February, but we made it through! Thank you to all of you who brought that matter to God in prayer. Another matter about prayer... the rough draft of "Why do we Pray?" is finished, now to get some review! The books have not progressed as well as I would like in the past month, but there is a possible answer in Pastor Rogers' devotional today. Patience has never been a strength of mine when I want something to take place or arrive or... you know the feeling. Last night our Life Group lesson reminded us to share our weaknesses in our witness. This as you well know is not easy to do. You or I will probably never feel more like a hypocrite than when we admit our weaknesses to an unbeliever. However, that is the heart of the Good News! Jesus died to save us from our sins. We already know that we have not and cannot keep the Law on our own. There is no sense trying to hide the fact that we are sinners when we are running around letting everyone know that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard.
The great thing about admitting a weakness is that people are much more likely to identify with a weakness than a strength. What is our example today? Today seems like a good time to pick on Burt. Last night I watched with some amusement as he fumbled with three different remotes. If you've been to my house, you have seen no less than 10 remotes sitting in front of my Bronco chair. I know this because I just walked out and counted them! :-) Now the example: we'll pretend for a moment that Burt is an unbeliever and I have arrived in his living room to share my witness. I see Burt fumbling with the TV remote, trying to turn up the stereo to drown me out. He senses what is coming and wants to hide from the conviction the Holy Spirit will bring. I see his difficulty and rush to help, but, instead of sharing the Good News, I start "fixing" his remotes and other devices, connecting this and that, programming one remote to operate another device and so on. In presenting a strength of mine, I forget to share what Burt really needs, the light of Jesus.
We all want to show off our strengths, that is human nature. God wants us to share the Good News. What may open a closed door is not our strengths, though God can and will use those too, but a weakness. As many of you can attest, we have shared more through our weaknesses than our strength. A weakness can also become a strength too! I have counseled others with similar problems to mine because of the fact that God has led me through a dark valley and I have found His strength in my weakness. In the depths of your weakness this may not seem possible, but trust God in this; it is possible!
Woops, this has become one of those devotionals where I don't want to stop writing. I pray that each of you enjoys a wonderful day in Christ Jesus!
Bucky
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