My Weakness is His Strength

By Donna McCrary –

“Mom, why are you crying? What is wrong with your voice?” These are not the words I wanted to hear as I exited the church platform.

It was a simple invitation to an upcoming women’s event at my church – a basic two minute date-time-and-place announcement. As I sat down at my seat my daughter’s innocent questions only added more injury to my already crushed speaking ego. I was nervous and overwhelmed with panic during the two minute announcement. My face was flush with a red glow from the “flight or fight” adrenaline rush. I was positive my pounding heart echoed over my cracking voice. Yes, it was that bad! Once I regained my composure and my breath, I made a silent vow to never again hear my voice crackling across any sound system.

Normally, I choose not to re-visit this awkward moment in my speaking career but today as I read this verse I chuckled. “But he (Jesus) said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 2:9). I have a weakness. My flight response is much stronger than my fight when it comes to standing on a stage. Public speaking is one of the highest ranking fears and I second that motion!

I have kept my vow to never hear my quivering voice over any loud speaker again. It has taken many days on my knees claiming every “fear not” and “speak boldly” scripture I can find to overcome this fear. To be truly honest, when I take my place on stage before any speaking event I am still the red-faced-heart-pounding-quivering-voice person. The difference is I now accept my weakness and allow the Holy Spirit to speak through me. I am always amazed at how nervous I feel right up to the moment when I am handed a microphone. Then and only then do I feel the calming Spirit settle my nerves.

After speaking events and retreats when individuals from the audience share compliments like, “You are natural on stage,” “You have such a way with words,” “You are a great speaker,” I graciously and humbly say thank you. I know my biggest weakness has become one of my favorite strengths because Christ’s “power has been made perfect in me.”

PRAYER: “Father, I thank You for creating me with weakness so I can fully comprehend Your strength and power. May You always be visible in my words and actions, both on and off the stage.”

“But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT).

Super Christian Status

By Donna McCrary –

This is the year! The right time for a clean slate, a fresh beginning, a “re-do” on all the failed attempts from last year at reaching my most desired accomplishment – Super Christian status.

Go ahead. Join me in my fist-pumping-face-smacking-pep-rally as I set my sights on this amazing accomplishment. I know I can do this! I have reviewed and updated my failed action items list from last year. I made it more realistic and added a few activities that will definitely secure my nomination for Super Christian status. One final review as the new year approaches:

Read through the Bible in a year
Get up before the rooster crows to spend thirty minutes praying for my needs, desires, the sick and dying
Attend a weekly small group on Sunday morning and Wednesday night
Attend worship on Sunday morning and evening
Attend a women’s conference mid-year for a pick me up
Volunteer for VBS, two mission trips, choir, and Ladies Night Coordinator
I will leave salvation tracts on the table for my waitress (this should confirm my nomination)

Super Christian Award you are all mine this year!!

It’s sad to admit, but this was me several years ago. As a Life Coach, I appreciate the value of setting goals and taking action. But for me, the Super Christian status became more valuable than the Most Valuable. I was putting more emphasis on the action items than on the One I was doing the action for. I was wrapped up in the mentality of checking it off the list.

Last year, when I was reviewing and preparing for my fist-pumping-face-smacking-pep-rally I realized how much focus I had placed on “religious activities.” I was becoming a modern-day Pharisee. I went through the emotions and actions of being a Christian but I didn’t have a relationship with Christ.

This realization gave me new direction. I put my goals and action items aside. Don’t get me wrong! I still attended worship, read my Bible, and prayed, but I didn’t check it off as a strategic action item when I finished. I simply enjoyed the moments spent with my Father! I discovered I didn’t need an action plan to reach Super Christian status, because now I deeply desire to experience the One that loves me and that alone drives all the necessary action steps.

PRAYER: “God, forgive me for making my goals and aspirations my god. Help me this year to spend time with You so I can experience Your love and friendship daily.”

BIBLE VERSE: “This is what the Lord says: The wise must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches. But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows ME- that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. [This is] the Lords’ declaration.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Good Mood Food

By Donna McCrary –

“Now that is good mood food!”

This was the last line of my eight-year-old’s writing assignment, describing his favorite food – pizza. Either he is watching too much TV, borrowing the slogan from the most recent “Arby’s” commercial, or his spelling words for the week focused on the “oo” sound. As the parent, I prefer the spelling word explanation.

As a Christian, I prefer the good-mood-food version of the Bible. I like the scriptures that promise “the peace of God, that transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7), “your joy may be complete” (John 15:11), and “He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). These are good-mood-food scriptures; the ones we claim and celebrate because they make us feel good. But, if scripture is food for our spiritual diet, what happens when we live on dessert alone?

Heavier, more challenging scriptures, fiber-laden-scriptures if you will, don’t qualify as good-mood-food, but they serve a far greater purpose in our spiritual diet. The verses that challenge us to renew our corrupt minds; to love the unlovable; to forgive the unforgivable; to extend grace; to take a stand against the traditions of this world; to hold each other accountable; to speak the truth in love, even when it comes at the cost of rejection; oh, these scriptural truths don’t taste good and they don’t go down easy!

Recently, when faced with a troubling situation, I searched God’s Word for guidance. What I discovered in scripture was not good-mood-food. Nothing in me wanted to love someone who had hurt the people I loved or wanted to let go and truly forgive. I struggled to even be in the same room as this person.

This is where the tough-to-swallow-scriptures spoke, “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:15). That is not good mood food!  But it is God’s Word! I must consume a balanced diet of all scriptures, not just the good-mood-food. This is the only way to experience a healthy spiritual life.

You can’t live on good mood food alone. You have to add some tough to swallow fiber to your spiritual diet!

PRAYER: God, thank You for your goodness and Your promises that I claim and celebrate. Help me learn to live out Your Word daily even when it is not the easy, feel good choice.

BIBLE VERSE: “Jesus himself said, ‘Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4 NIV).

 

The Sugar-Coated Wiggles

By Donna McCrary –

Since when is “wiggle” a politically correct word? Apparently I missed the mom memo from my children’s dentist. Don’t get me wrong “tooth extraction” is not exactly the phrase I am advocating. However, when I was a child you “pulled” your teeth. We used this phrase because that is what you did. I don’t remember tooth-pulling being a traumatic event in my childhood. Tooth-pulling was often a family affair filled with nagging siblings, plier-holding grandmothers, and creative ways to incorporate tools, dental floss, and slamming doors. In fact, my sweet, dainty, 100-pound grandmother would often jokingly grab the pliers and try to coerce me into letting her “yank” the dangling tooth.

As I left the dentist office, part of me was laughing but a deeper part of me was saddened. Are we really at point in society where sugar coating the truth is the standard? When my child asked point blank, “Will it hurt? Do I have to get a shot?” The truth was hidden somewhere in the words, “Don’t worry we will make you as comfortable as possible. You won’t feel much more than a little wiggle!” Don’t get me wrong I appreciate the staff offering comfort to my daughter, but how damaging is the truth expressed as truth?

With the festivities of fall approaching, how are we sugarcoating the truth? The truth – hell is real. The truth – Satan, also named the Devil, Lucifer and the Father of Lies, is real. The truth – Satan is not running around dressed in red tights, sparkling horns and carrying a pitch fork. This is the sugar coated version and to some it tastes better. It is hard to take seriously red tights and plastic pitch forks. The truth – “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV). The truth – hell is a place of torment (Luke 16:23 NIV). The truth – All who do evil and are separated from Jesus will be thrown “into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42 NIV).

Let’s stop sugar coating the truth. Satan and Hell are real! All those who do not accept the saving grace of Jesus Christ will experience hell –an eternity of torment and pain. Not wiggles!

PRAYER: Father, help me see, hear and share Your truth with boldness. Open my eyes to the ways I sugar-coat the reality of hell. Instill in me a deep desire to take a stand for Your Word and share Your son Jesus Christ to those around me with diligence and passion so their eternal reality is heaven.

BIBLE VERSE: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39 NIV).

Experience

By Donna McCrary –

“One. Two. Three.”

“Shhhh! Don’t talk to me!”

“One. Two. Three.”

“Ouch!”

“One. Two. Three.”

These words dominated the conversation on my last date with my husband. Not our typical conversation to say the least. The awkward tension radiating through our limbs was not typical of our dates either. On this particular date night, we agreed to go ball room dancing with some friends.

This is so not like us! To bluntly clarify the drastic difference in our dance abilities, our friends  share talent, training, and time. We share four left feet, no rhythm, and trained only in ‘college day’ party moves.

In between songs, our friends would graciously stop and teach us the basic dance steps called out by the DJ. By the end of the night we could add the Waltz and Swing to our “party moves”. Well, that may be an overstatement. We could complete the steps as long as we continually counted them out and limited all other movement in our bodies to allow our brain to be fully focused on our left feet.

Throughout the night, I watched our friends effortlessly float across the dance floor. They would talk, laugh, and joke with each other as they transitioned from the Swing to the Cha-Cha to the Foxtrot like pros. My husband jokingly said, “We could do that if we shared twenty plus years of experience.” They didn’t have to count their steps. They didn’t have to slow down or check their dance posture. They didn’t have to follow the “rules.” They just danced!

Our friends at one point in time were the awkward couple on the dance floor. They both had a moment, however brief, when they had to count their steps, twirl awkwardly, and follow the “rules”. Their dancing abilities stemmed from commitment, time, practice, and even a few falls once in a while.

Experience, commitment, time, practice, and even a few falls once in a while is the distinctive difference in those who effortlessly spin, twirl, laugh, and immensely enjoy their relationship with Jesus. Most of us start out awkward, rigid, and counting steps when we first declare Jesus as our Lord and Savior. However, if we make the commitment, take the time, practice, and get back up when we fall, our relationship will start to flow effortlessly with experience.

Are you dancing or counting steps in your relationship? Does your experience set you apart?

PRAYER: Father, give me a burning desire to spend time with You. Help me learn how to dance daily in Your presence.

BIBLE VERSE:  “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14 NIV).

« Previous Page — Next Page »