"Ringrunners - Revisited"
(Friends: I wrote the following nearly six years ago. The young men mentioned still work at the store I referenced. They continue to "run rings" around their fellow employees.)
I recently spoke with the manager of a local grocery store we frequent. He mentioned that his district manager had been at the store recently, and questioned him about several handicapped young men working there. The district manager seemed to feel that the boys could be a liability. I loved the manager's response: "Are you kidding? They're the best workers I have, and run rings around everybody here!"
God's economy and our own are often quite different.
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence" (I Corinthians 1:27:30).
Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ increasingly discover that supposed earthly "handicaps" serve as advantages regarding things that really matter. Our faith began on a cross whereupon our Creator died in weakness, shame, suffering, and death. Thus, weaknesses become the vessels of strength. God turns losses into gains. Trials transform into triumph. We see problems as opportunities. Pain, in its myriad of forms, can be known as a friend. Moreover, tears lead to the comforting touch of the hand of God upon our troubled faces. Indeed, as we trust and submit unto Him in our challenges, the Lord Jesus is known in ways we could never otherwise experience.
Human beings do not naturally prioritize things that matter. The world, the devil and the flesh skew our perceptions, causing us to maximize the minimum, emphasis the inconsequential, and exalt the unimportant. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ begins the renewing of our minds whereby we increasingly learn to rightly prioritize our perceptions, based on the Bible's evaluation of the things that matter. Who would have thought that a baby born in a feeding trough would become the Lord sitting upon the throne of Heaven at the right hand of God? Uninformed observers who witnessed the birth of the Lord Jesus would not have suspected that God manifest in the flesh lay in such meager circumstances. Nevertheless, the Baby would live, die and rise again to reign as the God who is man and the man who is God.
God's economy and our own are often quite different.
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence" (I Corinthians 1:27:30).
Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ increasingly discover that supposed earthly "handicaps" serve as advantages regarding things that really matter. Our faith began on a cross whereupon our Creator died in weakness, shame, suffering, and death. Thus, weaknesses become the vessels of strength. God turns losses into gains. Trials transform into triumph. We see problems as opportunities. Pain, in its myriad of forms, can be known as a friend. Moreover, tears lead to the comforting touch of the hand of God upon our troubled faces. Indeed, as we trust and submit unto Him in our challenges, the Lord Jesus is known in ways we could never otherwise experience.
Human beings do not naturally prioritize things that matter. The world, the devil and the flesh skew our perceptions, causing us to maximize the minimum, emphasis the inconsequential, and exalt the unimportant. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ begins the renewing of our minds whereby we increasingly learn to rightly prioritize our perceptions, based on the Bible's evaluation of the things that matter. Who would have thought that a baby born in a feeding trough would become the Lord sitting upon the throne of Heaven at the right hand of God? Uninformed observers who witnessed the birth of the Lord Jesus would not have suspected that God manifest in the flesh lay in such meager circumstances. Nevertheless, the Baby would live, die and rise again to reign as the God who is man and the man who is God.
Such sublime wonder should confirm the Lord's counsel that "My thoughts are not your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8). It should tell us also that like those young men at the store, the Ringrunners, our "handicaps" can be known as opportunities. Concerning the things that most matter, they may well "run rings" around the supposed strengths of our lives.
"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong"
"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong"
(II Corinthians 12:9-10)
Weekly Memory Verse
Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
(II Thessalonians 2:16-17)
No comments:
Post a Comment