God’s Joyful Surprise: The Gift of His Given Strength

The gardening life is full of surprises. It yields good surprises like volunteer tomato plants that show up among the squashes from last year’s random self-seeding—and bad surprises such as the utter gluttony of one woodchuck who feels entitled to our green bean plants.

This year’s best gardening surprise has been the unexpected results of my daily exercises! For the past year, I’ve been following a daily regimen of exercises designed to ward off (or at least delay) the insidious advance of Parkinson’s disease, not realizing that this spring I would receive the gift of improved flexibility and stamina for weeding.

Without even realizing it, I was putting myself in a position to receive strength, and I’m convinced that this is an invitation God makes good on in every minute of our following life:

"From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 64:4)

Waiting for God to work, we put ourselves in a position to receive strength that is not our own. To our joyful surprise, we learn that waiting, showing up with our minor faithfulness, is not a sign of powerlessness, for isn’t all human strength derivative after all? We operate from given-strength.

The strength God gives to his people for godly living, for obedience, for kicking ourselves out of the center of the universe allows us to receive his holiness rather than striving for it. We live in partnership with God.

I see this most clearly in the post-yes panic that comes with almost every new writing assignment. Right now, I’m working toward a deadline for an article on a specific topic for Desiring God. My excitement over a new challenge is immediately followed by panic: “What was I thinking? I don’t have anything to say about this topic! I’m a fraud!”

Panic comes from my feeling of powerlessness because I’ve forgotten the givenness of everything I do. If I write in partnership with God, my right response is to turn toward him, put myself in a position to receive, wait for wisdom that is not my own, and trust the partnership.

You and I can join Amy Carmichael in this prayer:

"Love through me, Love of God.
Make me like Thy clear air
Through which, unhindered, colors pass
As if it were not there.”

If the assignment from God is to love the insufferable person in my life, “Love through me.”
If I’m up against a deadline and feeling wordless, “Write through me.”
If I have an opportunity to speak wisdom into a fraught conversation, “Speak through me.”
If a situation needs prayer, but I don’t know what to ask, “Pray through me.”

Animated by the love of God, we take the strength he gives, and we do more in our weakness than we could ever accomplish in our own power.

Question for You:

I gave voice to four examples of given-strength using four verbs: love, write, speak, and pray. What verbs would you add to the list from your own specific circumstances? I think we can all help one another with examples of how we are putting ourselves in the position to receive.