The Origin of Power

Just as our identity is found in the revealing of God’s identity, so is the loss of our strength the discovery of the headwaters of God’s strength.  It is a difficult thing for us to grasp the revelation that God only starts when we stop.  We actually hate the thought!  We would rather believe that God rewards the one whom, like a mighty warrior, conquers new territories as a champion in the name of the Lord.  This thinking fit nicely into the same thinking that says, “the end justifies the means.”  Of course we know that is not true.  History is filled with all kinds of horror stories of people who in the moment violated what was right to be successful.  In the same way we struggle with the thinking that God actually wants us to come to the end of ourselves in order to find His power.  We can serve the Lord an entire lifetime and accomplish great things that make people applaud, yet without the blessing of God. 

How do we evaluate our own position in this respect?  It is a good thing to step back from the daily fray of activities and reevaluate our goals.  What is it that we are trying to accomplish?  How will success appear?  Is the finish line for which we are striving really the legacy we want to leave?  It is a good thing to take a hard look at our heroes.  Whom do we try to emulate?  Whose strategies do we actually apply in our life work?  That is huge in revealing what we truly believe.  We may read of worshipful Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus but we seldom stop our frantic activities to follow her example.  We believe there is more value in the work of Martha than the worship of Mary.  Martha probably would not have broken the costly fragrance bottle to apply it to the feet of Jesus, and then wiped his feet with her hair, her glory.  Mary did.  Mary understood something about the secret beauty from brokenness.  It is a rare and lonely place for us to arrive where we see our emptiness as the beginning of His fullness.  I’m not talking about the lazy, immobilized attitude of the cynic.  I’m talking about the thoroughbred standing at the starting gate quivering to run.  He has been trained and is ready for service.  Yet, he is trained to never move without the release of his master.  When the others dash from the gate his standing looks like failure to the crowd.  Yet, in waiting he is the only one who will receive the blessing and the empowering of his Lord.  It is he who will accomplish what the natural alone could never realize.  Yes, we may impress many people and leave monuments in our wake.  Yet, the Lord is looking for those disciplined and trained few who are willing and able to empty themselves and wait for the anointing of His empowering for the task.