i've been thinking...

for some reason that i don't yet understand, i sat down at the computer and decided to start a new blog. whatever that reason may be, there just might be some benefit to this brand new shiny blog o' mine. maybe since it's new, i'll actually use it! maybe i'll start blogging before bedtime whenever i do decide to use it. i might even put something worth reading in here from time to time.

i had a very brief conversation with a security guard at work today. while i don't find this man to be particularly religious (at least not in the sense that it pervades his vocabulary or general disposition), i do know him to be at least familiar with church and with religiosity. he quoted a verse this morning as i walked to the office that's had me thinking off and on all day

i can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

many of you will readily recognize this from paul's epistle to the philippians. i immediately went back in my mind to the vivid memory of the time i first heard it, from the lips of my grandfather while we were working in the heat of the summer in wilmington. i even remember pointing out the nearest heavy construction vehicle and asking immaturely if jesus could help him lift it. obviously, the spirit did no such thing on that day.

i didn't think of it again until february of last year, when i was staring at a bottle i'd been holding in my hands for half an hour until its contents were unpleasantly hot. at least, i assume so - i never did drink that bottle. i can do all things through Him who strengthens me. while it was sorely misapplied to the circumstances, it did help me get through that night and many to follow. i somehow felt like God had empowered me to resist the tempation.

fast forward to the parking lot at work. i smirked and laughed at this security guard for his sentiment and i strolled on down the hill to work, thinking "he's missing the point..." i even shared the sentiment with my fiancé in the car tonight, at which point i realized something startling: he was closer to the point than i ever was. rewind a bit in that good old Book and see what's really going on here.

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

this little spiritual journey has now brought me back to a sermon that chris gainor delivered a while back, one of the points of which was that it's really hard to make a big deal out of God when you're complaining about your circumstances. y'all, i'm a complainer - and i've got it good. but even if our present circumstances make us feel like complaint is justified, don't we have a greater hope that calls us back upward? remember that all things work for the good of those that love God, the same God that did not spare His only Son, and therefore would freely give us all things if we just ask! we are conquerors. we are certainly not whiners.

see: Romans 8