God has granted each one of us a unique package of abilities. I embrace color, wrangle words,and live a life filled with music. I adore capturing moments in a picture. Others, so dear to me in my world, make order of numbers, create neat orderly spaces, care for the sick, fix mechanical things, protect and serve, or create with data and technology. Some...have a mix of those abilities.
We all have gifts. How we use them is our gift to Him in return.
Most of us .. in difficult situations... have the choice between working to make things better as a calming presence ... or choosing to "stir pots", evoke higher emotional responses and create higher drama. Keeping a reign on emotions is not always easy, but is usually a good choice. Honest and truthful emotion... can be used to do good things, motivate masses and deepen relationships. A pause to consider how we are "programmed" and how that benefits our purpose is a powerful pause. Or, it can reveal how we can get in our own way... or worse... God's way. One of my favorite passages... a lesson in the sovereignty of God... contains these words. "Our God is able...". Shadrach, Meshacha and Adenego were young men of purpose. They had submitted to their captivity, but did not abandon their faith. They had been tested before and God was faithful. Still, a crash diet is far different than confronting the angry fires of a blazing furnace. Their ability to trust in that moment has always created a sense of awe when I read these passages. They were able to trust God with their lives, knowing that he may not spare them death,
They appeared confident... but surely their hearts were racing. They spoke with the creative eloquence of a statesman... speaking volumes in three sentences:.. but they surely felt the pressure of the moment.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” -Daniel 3:16-18
For those unfamiliar... the guards who took them to the furnace died from the heat of the flames. They walked in boldly. They withstood the fires. They walked out unharmed, their hair and garments unsinged. They did not even smell of the fires. They were not alone, as a "fourth man" was seen walking around with them.
For me... "our God is able" is the most powerful four words in the passage. They knew His abilities and were confident... even onto death if they were called to die. That is crazy courage and trust. It was evidence of their confidence in the abilities of the God they knew walked with them each day of their lives. They lived in a relationship that strengthened them for life's "fires".
Shadrach, Meshacha and Adenego walked so closely with God, he gave them the courage and the strength to create a sense of peace in a terrible trial. The king didn't know what to do with them. In the end... he bowed to Jehovah.
We all have abilities, but we don't now where they will lead. We can be grateful for what we have and offer our lives in gratitude for his abundant blessings.
Today, I am grateful for creative abilities.
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