Gleanings From The Word

Tag: Christian living

  • Rebound Stronger – How trials build unshakeable faith

    girl on a trampoline high in the air - rebound stronger

    Our granddaughters have a trampoline in the backyard. They and their friends are quite adept at leaps, spins, rolls and general acrobatics. Sometimes, I have to look away because I envision one of them coming off and breaking a bone or two or going right through the fabric.

    I did some quick research on the physics of trampolines and came across this: “A trampoline works by temporarily storing energy. As you land, your downward force stretches the tightly woven mat and the springs around its edge. The deeper the mat bends, the more elastic potential energy is stored. When the springs recoil, that stored energy is released upward, pushing against you with a force that can exceed your body weight. In effect, the very force that pulls you downward becomes the source of your lift. The harder and more completely you press into the trampoline, the greater the potential for an upward rebound—provided your timing and balance allow that energy to be directed efficiently into the next jump.”

    The harder you apply downward pressure, the further upward you go. There is a bit of a spiritual principle here, although not exactly the same. God allows us to undergo trials and tribulations. It is in those dark places where our faith is tested that our faith grows the most.

    An untested faith is simply a hope. Faith that comes through again and again is strengthened. In essence, we bounce up higher and higher. We rebound from the trials strengthened and more Christ like.

    Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:2-4

    Dark times are a part of life in a sin-filled and fallen world. Even Christians have them. In fact Christians may face even harder times because the world hates our Lord. Once we get to glory, that won’t be an issue, but in the meantime we persevere.

    We take the pressure, strengthened by God and rebound to a stronger faith. Paul understood that truth.

    I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:10-13

    We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

    So next time it feels too much, remember Jesus has your back. He goes ahead of you and walks beside. Hold fast and bounce back stronger.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed,

    Kevin

    Seeing Jesus more clearly each day

    SUMMARY

    Watching my granddaughters flip and spin on that trampoline, I started thinking about how the harder they press down, the higher they fly. That same principle shows up in the Christian life: the trials that press us down are what God uses to build a faith that rebounds stronger than before.

    TAKEAWAY

    Trampolines store energy through downward pressure and release it as upward lift

    James 1:2-4 shows that tested faith produces perseverance, not just endurance

    Paul’s example in Philippians and 2 Corinthians proves we’re pressed but never crushed

    Tribulation Produces Perseverance

    Pressed but still standing

    Live in Abbotsford? There are many good churches. This is where I attend.

    Find a good church

    Some thoughts on finding a good church

  • Nobody Told The Bees – Lessons in Obedience

    Yesterday, I was once again enjoying the busyness of the bumble bees at the lavender in the backyard. I was pondering the myth that bumble bees and honey bees shouldn’t be able to fly and wondered where that came from.

    I did some research, and according to one source, “The origins of the honey bee flight myth are hazy, but the most enduring version involves an aerodynamics engineer casually calculating that a bee’s weight-to-wing-area ratio made flight impossible. Though some accounts attribute the claim to scientists like Ludwig Prandtl or Jakob Ackeret, it likely stems from a misunderstood 1934 observation by the French zoologist Antoine Magnan, who applied fixed-wing flight equations to insect wings and concluded — incorrectly — that insect flight defied aerodynamic theory”.

    Of course, both bumble bees and honey bees can fly, as we well know. Apparently, nobody told God that they couldn’t fly and certainly no one told the bees.

    That took me down the rabbit hole of thinking about how we come up with reasons we can’t do things that God asks of us.

    I thought of Moses standing beside the burning bush. He had plenty of excuses.

    But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:10

    Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” Exodus 3:13

    Then Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Lord, I have never been a man of words, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your slave; for I am one with a hard mouth and a hard tongue.” And Yahweh said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? So now, go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth and will instruct you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Please, Lord, send now the message by whomever You will.” Exodus 4:10-13

    Let’s make that more current, no burning bush. “Kevin, I want you to invite your neighbor to church”, saith the LORD.

    “Who me? You must be mistaken. I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

    “Yes, you! Did I stutter?”

    “You must be mistaken. Send someone else to ask them. Someone who has the gift of inviting.”

    Now, it might not be inviting that the Lord has called us to do, but all of us have something the Lord has told us to do that we fight Him on with excuses, pass the buck to others, or just plain pretend not to hear.

    The Lord knows our shortcomings as well as He knows that bees are perfectly capable of flight. If we have a shortcoming, He will provide what we need.

    For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, so that no flesh may boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

    As someone once said (and I can’t find an accurate attribution), “God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called.”

    Obedience when we know it’s our gifting is easy. When we’re not certain, or worse yet, convinced we can’t do what God asks, it’s even harder. Still, if God has called us to it, it’s for a reason.

    It’s time we traded our excuses for obedience. God knows what He is doing, even when we think He’s wrong. Maybe I’ll just go talk to that neighbor today.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    Bees and the Sweetness of God’s Word

    Every member is necessary

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