Power Predicament

     When it comes to physical stature, Americans believe bigger is better. 

     We like our athletes big, strong and powerful.  On sports fields and basketball courts, strength and stamina win the day.  Scrawny types just don’t cut it.

     And when you’re the biggest and the strongest, your friends treat you like a demigod.  That fact isn’t lost on athletes who are tempted to bulk up with illegal drugs that destroy their health.

     But if your confidence is in your strength, it becomes your greatest weakness.

     “Now hold on just a minute!” you say.  “How can strength become a weakness?”

     Because strength leads to pride.   Eventually you’ll face someone bigger and stronger.  And when strength and ability are your only resource, you’ve set yourself up to fail.

     Have you ever heard of Samson?  He was a national hero.  He was the strongest man alive and proud of it. His story is in the Bible book of Judges, chapters 13-16. Read it sometime.

     Samson was so strong he killed a lion with his bare hands.  When bound with ropes, he snapped them like threads.  Attacked by a thousand warriors, he destroyed them single-handed.

     But one day, in a moment of weakness, he revealed the secret of his God-given strength.  His enemies took advantage of his weakness and made him a slave.

     You have a power predicament when you depend on your strength alone and not on God’s power. And when you forget that all you have, your strength, your talents and your intellect – everything – is a gift from God, you’re setting yourself up for a fall.  Just like Samson did.

     As the saying goes, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

     So is it wrong to be strong?  Not at all.  The problem is pride.

     Pride makes us think we’re invincible.  Pride is a seed we sow that leads to a harvest of self-destruction.  That’s why God warns us against becoming proud.

     If pride is the problem, humility before God is the solution.  The Bible says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.”

     When a person humbles himself or herself and trusts in God, God’s power makes that person strong.  Just consider the example of Jesus Christ.

     Jesus was crucified in what appeared to be a moment of weakness.  But God’s power resurrected him. And then Jesus walked alive out of a solid rock tomb. How’s that for power?

     Maybe you face overwhelming odds in your life.  Your health, your finances or your reputation have been crushed.  You feel weak, defeated and humbled.  If so, take heart.

     When humility brings you to God and you trust in him through Jesus Christ his Son, everything changes.  Suddenly you’re connected to God’s power.  Your failures are forgiven and you can say with the Apostle Paul, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

     Put your confidence in God.  He can and will save you.

     That outlook led the psalmist to write in the Bible, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”  And it led the Apostle Paul to exclaim, “Thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

     At the end of his life, Samson learned this lesson the hard way.  Tortured by his enemies, he humbled himself and called on God. God restored his strength and gave him one last victory.

     Take a lesson from Samson and avoid a power predicament.  Put your trust in the all-powerful God of the Bible today.  You’ll be glad you did.

     Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!