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Everything We Need

 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (II Peter 1:3) 

Last Wednesday’s word was “stealth,” and I used it to describe the manner in which little bits of bad attitude, all dressed in fun fur and looking harmless, were creeping in, popping up, and otherwise be stealthy in their approach.[1] One of the more effective bits of mood muppetry involves a rather typical before breakfast prayer for wisdom, strength, courage and all other things that I’m sure I’ll need by the time I eat breakfast.

I tend to prefer not to say, “And God said,” but if He didn’t, then some part of my mind that He has managed to educate did. The question of just how much courage, wisdom, and strength I needed to eat breakfast, walk the dog, and write a blog post. Really. Do I lack sufficient wisdom, strength, and courage to handle what life throws at me today?

Now, yes, this is a way for me to connect with God first thing in the morning, a method of turning the key in the ignition to get my engine running. Yes, it’s certainly better to confess that as a fallen human, I’m likely to need each of those at some point, and praying for them in advance isn’t a bad thing. But what God or my God-trained mind asked was along the lines of, “Who told you that you don’t have enough wisdom, strength, or courage? How much wisdom, strength, and courage do you really need?”

And the answer from the fallen side of me follows Oliver to the headmaster’s table, holds up a bowl and says, “Please, sir, I want some more.” No a good part of that fallen side leans forward from my flowerpot and says, “Feed me, Seymour.”

I find myself, once again, facing an old foe… “Not Good Enough.” God has promised that He’s already provided all I need for live and godliness, but that’s not good enough. I need to feel strong, courageous, wise, etc. It’s not good enough because I’m not as wise, strong, or courageous as …pick your superlative example, but the key is that it must be superlative. It’s not about having enough courage; it’s about having more than enough, more than the next guy…. In other words, it’s not about God meeting my needs, it’s not about faith, it’s not even really about courage, wisdom, and strength; it’s about greed.

Ouch. But a diagnosis is the first step to a cure.


[1] In case you haven’t guessed, this was written on Wednesday, the same day that “stealth” was my word. I’m trying to get ahead to make traveling less stressful. I may yet obsess on these images, but since they’re helpful, that’s OK.

 

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