“You’re my favorite kind of person to work with.”

A thought by Steven Furtick, (2016-03-01) from his book, (UN)Qualified: How God Uses Broken People to Do Big Things (p. 102). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Would you like someone to say that about you?

Steven tells the story behind those words. He said, “Recently I tried to learn tennis as a hobby. I was pretty nervous when I went for my first lesson, and the first thing the instructor said didn’t help. ‘All right, let’s see what I’ve got to work with. What do you know?’ I told him I had no idea what I was doing. He said that was just the way he liked it, which confused me. He explained how people come all the time knowing just enough tennis to make them impossible to coach. They don’t want to trust a new way because they are used to their way. And they try to show the coach how much they know instead of learning what he has to teach them. ‘You’re my favorite kind of person to work with,’ he said.”

Steven then said, “I wonder if God’s favorite kind of person to work with is the one who says, ‘God, I have no idea what I’m doing here. But if you’ll show me what you know about me, about life, about relationships, about my career, about my decisions, I’ll do it.’”

He goes on, “Pride is the barrier that keeps us from receiving strength in our weakness. Sometimes you may find yourself embarrassed to ask others, or even God, for help. You may feel that you should be more mature by now, more capable. You know that God has called you to accomplish certain things, but the fact that your weaknesses keep getting in the way is humiliating. Maybe God is running out of patience with me, you think. After all, I’m certainly out of patience with myself.”

But then he says, “God is not out of patience. And he probably has a significantly different assessment of yourself than you do.”

And here is the key, “But in order to receive his help, we have to admit we need it. We have to take our weaknesses to God in faith, without self-condemnation or despair or shame.”

So why don’t you do that today?

Comments

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book, Winning the War on Worry (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

"To put it simply, worry isn’t just a bad habit."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book, Winning the War on Worry (p. 1). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Ok, that is interesting. Louie says, "Worry is an Enemy tactic—a strategy built on lies that are designed to rob you of peace and tear your mind to pieces. "That’s why it’s crucial that you are able to spot the lies worry tells." He goes on, "Not long ago while on safari in South Africa, Shelley and I were really wanting to see a leopard in the wild. Early and late on our game drives our eyes were set on every tree limb, bush, grassy hill, and river path in hopes of finding one of several leopards that were known to frequent this particular area. But here’s the thing: leopards aren’t bright orange with tall, sparkly antennae on their backs. They are designed to blend into the surroundings, like the bark of a baobab tree where they might be lounging on one of its mighty branches. "In the same way, ...

Just Continue That Thought...

Search This Blog