Unnecessary Burdens

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

I often find myself carrying many burdens that I was never meant to carry.

One huge burden I tote around is the weight of producing a miracle. I want my non-believing friend to know Christ, I want the girls that I lead in Bible study to grow spiritually and understand truth, I want lives around me to be transformed.  And then I want to be the one that stands up and yells, “TA-DA!” Preferably as confetti flies through the air.

These are not bad things, in fact, I think they very much align with the heart of God. But, where things start to go awry is when I think that it is my weight to shoulder alone. I start to believe that I’m a Lone Ranger out here gunning it in the Wild West by myself. (I have included a picture of myself above with my trusty steed.)

Not to state the obvious, but being the Lone Ranger is well….lonely. Not to mention totally exhausting and defeating. I feel like I’m working so hard, but not much is happening.  

2 Corinthians 6:10 says:

We have nothing, yet we possess everything.

I love this. Let's read it again.

We have nothing, yet we possess everything.

We have nothing to offer apart from God, but WITH him we have everything to offer.

He is with us, behind us, before us, in us…and we are not able, nor have we been asked to do it without him.

We are responsible for taking the step of faith, but he’s responsible for the miraculous part. His specialty is miracles, and ours is just doing what he tells us. Not a bad gig for us, considering we get the best seat in the house to witness the miracle.

In other words, we get to plant the seed, but God makes it grow. (1 Cor. 3:7) 

This is why on my good days I am asking the Spirit to move constantly. Please give me the words, Lord. Please show up tonight, Lord. Please give me eyes to see what you’re doing here, Lord.

And then he gets to say “TA-DA!”