From Dreadful to Dynamite

You many have seen the commercial. A little boy, no more than five or six years old, steps up to a piano taller than he is. It is the dreaded piano recital.

His hair is slicked down, unruly cowlicks temporarily tamed. The little fellow is wearing a dark suit purchased just for the occasion. A tiny red power tie completes the outfit. His parents watch nervously from the audience as he places trembling fingers on the keyboard.

Hesitantly, he plinks out the first notes of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," stumbling over the simple melody and pausing to remember what comes next. The audience collectively holds its breath as the little guy struggles on.

Suddenly, those who have lost interest and are reading their programs lift their eyes again to the stage. Instead of hearing the halting notes of a child's piano piece, they hear the swirling sounds of a complex composition.  Grace notes and arpeggios flow around the single halting melody, transforming the simple song.

Those witnessing the transformation see the source of the magic. The teacher has quietly joined his protege' on stage.  Slipping his arms around the child, he has added his skill and musical ability to the performance, and together they share the keyboard.  What began as a simple attempt becomes a glorious masterpiece.

As I watched this inspiring commercial about the power of encouragement, I was struck by how closely this saga describes the Christian life.

Few of us are especially gifted or empowered, but when we step out in fledgling faith to obey Christ in our daily lives, God steps in, puts his arms next to ours, and transforms our pedantic attempts into  beautiful symphonies. He adds His power to our weakness, His enabling to our obedience, and His Spirit to our witness.

When He does this, we experience results we could never have accomplished in our own strength. Paul testified to this in 1 Corinthians 3:6. "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow."

If you are facing a task that seems too big for you, I challenge you to surrender it to God. Ask Him to equip and enable you, and to add His strength to yours. Invite Him to glorify Himself through you.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" (1 Cor. 12:9).

I can't wait to hear the beautiful music!

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"Shhh! No Talking While the Pastor's Preaching!"

 How many times during church have we felt a little tap on our arm or a tug on our sleeve and leaned over to whisper, "Shhh!  No talking while the pastor's preaching!"?  I felt that little tap this past Sunday during morning church service.  Since my children are grown and my husband was in the sound booth, I quickly recognized that the tap on my arm was really a tap on my heart.  I realized that it was the LORD Who was speaking while the pastor was preaching.

And so, while the pastor was delivering a stirring sermon on every believer's call to be a missionary, the Holy Spirit was addressing an entirely different issue in my own heart.  In order to do so, He hijacked my pastor's perfectly good text, threw me into the wagon with it, and off we went down a divergent path.

In the hope that our conversation might also help you, I transcribed it to share.  It went something like this:

"The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat." (Mat. 8:14)

How are we going to pay for college next fall?  We only have a small savings.  It is not even enough for ONE year, let alone four..


"Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you not still see or understand?" (Mat. 8:17) 

How much or how little you have is irrelevant, because your provision is not in what you have, but in Whom you have.  And you have Me.

"Is your heart hardened?  Do you not have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?  And don't you remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfulls of pieces did you pick up" (Mat. 8:19)

Do you not remember that I have always provided for you?  Do you not remember that I sent your husband to school when there was no money?  Do you not remember that I sent your daughter, too?

I do remember, Lord.  We stepped out in faith, believing that you were calling Him there, and without fail, every semester, you provided.  For over four years.  Over $17,000.
And Kristen, too.  She'll graduate in May with no debt.  You provided.

And how many baskets of food were left over after I provided for your needs?

Lots, Lord..  We've had everything we've needed and then some.

"Do you have eyes, and do not see, and do you have ears and not hear? . . . Don't you understand yet?"


Yes, Lord, I understand.  And I want to understand while it is still faith, not sight.


Thank you, Lord.  I love you a lot.

Dear friend, are you struggling?  Are you seeing the giants and forgetting the promises?  Are you facing huge needs with small faith?  Are you forgetting all that God has done for you in the past and focusing only on what is looming before you today?  Then join me. Put your face in His hands, look deep into His kind eyes, and hear Him say, "Don't you remember?  Do you not see?"  And let's watch Him do a miracle.

"If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Be thou removed.'"