I Did It All By Myself!

Ever been really proud of yourself?  Ever knock it out of the park with a project?  It's a great sense of satisfaction when you know that you did something well.  However, there is the temptation, always, to forget that God should be getting some credit.

I love the story of Gideon for so many reasons..  Judges 7:2-3 in The Message reads:

God said to Gideon, “You have too large an army with you. I can’t turn Midian over to them like this—they’ll take all the credit, saying, ‘I did it all myself,’ and forget about me."

Wow.  Human nature sure hasn't changed much over the millennia has it?  It seems that way back in the day, people were concluding that they did things on their own strength and not remembering that God was the one who should get the credit.   Sound familiar at all?

When I recruit people to adopt teenagers, I always say, "If you only accept the challenges in life that you can do without God's strength, you never get to see Him do the cool stuff.  It's only when you take on something that is way too hard for you that you can live the adventure filled life that God calls you to live."  (And obviously, adopting a teenager is something that is very hard to do without a lot of help from the Almighty!)

(By the way, if you're interested in adopting a teenager and you live near Lynchburg, Virginia, you may have an opportunity to do that through Patrick Henry Family Services within the next year or so.  Just sayin').

In the verses above it's pretty clear to me.    God said to Gideon as He says to us, "Your challenge is too small.   If that's all you do with your time, with your energy, with your resources, with your life, then you'll take all the credit and forget all about me."

For years I have committed myself to seeking to do things for and with God that I can't do alone.  It's been the hardest, most rewarding, worst, best life a person could imagine.

If you're living in the shallow waters, come on.... jump in.   It's in the deep waters where the cool stuff happens.