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OPINION

Even men of steel rust

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I need to be stronger – at least that’s what I think I need.

I mean, everyone wants to be strong, solid, a rock. Unshaken by the storms of life. Able to overcome insurmountable odds with focus and precision. A beacon of what it is to be a true human being.

Pastor Terry Parkman

But what is strength?

Is it the ability to achieve success and overcome challenges and then to depend on those previous experiences the next time a hardship comes our way? Is it to reach down for that proverbial “something” deep inside of ourselves, hoping to come up with just a little extra? Are we even looking in the right place for it?

I wonder sometimes if we have the wrong idea about what strength truly is. A wise man once said, “You’re only as strong as the one you serve.” So what or who do we serve? And are they strong enough for me to tap into and draw our strength from?

If we look to others, we eventually come up disappointed when realizing that others are just as weak as we are. If we look deep inside ourselves, we find a ceiling, a limit, an end to how much we can actually serve before we realize that we have only an illusion of strength. We need something more, something greater, something infinite. Something God.

I seem to remember someone named Paul saying this about God, “When I am weak, He is made strong in me.” Sounds like too big of a risk to take initially. I mean, what he’s saying is that I have to recognize my weaknesses and allow them to come to the surface so that I can turn them over to God.

Scary. Crazy scary.

But what are the pros?

The pros are that we don’t have to lie to ourselves anymore about who we really are. It means that honesty and truth can finally once and for all permeate our lives. It means that our true weaknesses have nothing to do with our shortcomings, but rather with our insecurities of what we were created to be: free.

It means that we serve One who is unlimited. And as we release our weaknesses to Him, we in turn gain unlimited strength.

So I ask again: What is strength?

Answer: Unlimited, unfathomable, infinite, all-powerful God.

Yeah, and I serve Him.

-Terry Parkman is student ministries pastor at Evangel Assembly of God. You can follow his blog at www.unorthodoxsaints.tumblr.com.

 

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