How Strong Are You?

Matt 12:18-21

 

18 "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,

nor will any one hear his voice in the streets;

20 he will not break a bruised reed

or quench a smoldering wick,

till he brings justice to victory;

21 and in his name will the Gentiles hope."

RSV

 

How strong are you? If you were to measure your strength you might set up for yourself a set of trials. You could see how much you could lift with your arms or how fast you move from one place to another. You might measure your lung capacity by completely exhaling into a device. How much can you lift with your legs? How far can you run until you are utterly exhausted and winded? What is your grip strength? How many decibels of sound can you produce with your voice? Can you take a hard strike to your jaw without passing out? What about a blow to your abdomen? This is all physical strength. 

What about emotional strength? Can you endure an insult or verbal attack? Can you smile in the face of public scorn? What would it take for you to lose your composure? Can you control your anger? Can you keep the tears back in the face of sadness or hurtful words? What about shame and embarrassment? What about fear of public humiliation? 

Can you affect others with your physical and emotional strength? Can you crush someone’s jawbone with the force of your fist? Can you speak harshly to cause emotional injury? Conversely, can your body yield comfort to another, can your voice restore peace in the mind of a troubled friend? Can you hold up those who stumble? 

Consider the power of Jesus? “Through him creation was made.” It is the power of Jesus that holds the Universe together. (See Colossians 1:17) Yet, this powerful being will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick. When you measure your strength, you discover your weakness. Physically, our weakness begins when our capacity is exceeded. Some can bench press 400 lbs but they can’t lift 401lbs. At that level, they are weak. Emotionally our capacity is more difficult to measure, but, it too, has its limits. When that point is exceeded, we are weak. 

Jesus comes to us with great gentleness. We are “weak but he strong.”  

In our rough-and-rugged individualism, we think of gentleness as weakness, being soft, and virtually spineless. Not so! . . . Gentleness includes such enviable qualities as having strength under control, being calm and peaceful when surrounded by a heated atmosphere, emitting a soothing effect on those who may be angry or otherwise beside themselves, and possessing tact and gracious courtesy that causes others to retain their self-esteem and dignity. . . . Instead of losing, the gentle gain. Instead of being ripped off and taken advantage of, they come out ahead!

Charles R. Swindoll (1934– )

 

Lord

I crawled

across the barrenness

to you

with my empty cup

uncertain

in asking

any small drop

of refreshment.

If only

I had known you

better

I’d have come

running

with a bucket.

Nancy Spiegelberg

 

Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.

Eugene Gladstone O’Neill (1888–1953)

 

All we want in Christ, we shall find in Christ. If we want little, we shall find little. If we want much, we shall find much; but if, in utter helplessness, we cast our all on Christ, he will be to us the whole treasury of God.

Henry Benjamin Whipple (1822–1901)

 

By his first work he gave me to myself; and by the next he gave himself to me. And when he gave himself, he gave me back myself that I had lost.

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153)