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Strength in My Weakness

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God amazes me.

Two and a half years ago, God directed me to write a Bible study, Tested by Fire. In April of this year a revised version of that study will become available for distribution to bookstores across the country. I have no idea where God will take it, but I remember well where Jesus had to take me to get here.

I recently came across this post from January 2012, written as God was preparing me to speak at my very first women’s conference outside of serving my church. I am humbled to remember the steps of the journey and where God has taken me along the way. I pray that reading it will encourage you to take your own steps of faith with Jesus, trusting that He’s with you even in the hard times. It just may be those moments of great brokenness that allow you to experience all Jesus wants to be in your life. When you let His strength overshadow your weakness, His glory surely follows.

 

More Than a Conqueror

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV (1984)

In two and a half weeks I will have the remarkable privilege of sharing Jesus Christ with hundreds of women at the new “Women of Purpose” conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. It astounds me to think of the plan God has chosen for my life. One particular verse comes to mind as I consider my story. Romans 4:17 celebrates “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”

Recently, Karen Hickam, the founder of Strive for Greatness who is hosting the conference, challenged each of the speakers participating in the event to consider the raw, painful moments of their journey. I prayerfully asked the Lord to take me back to some of my own struggles and allow me to feel them again. I asked Him to help me describe them in a way that others might feel them too and relate to my experience. Here’s where the Lord led me.

  • I sat under the shelter of my covered porch watching the rain wash over the earth around me and wondered briefly if God had opened the skies to match my tears. Thunder shook the heavens, literally rattling the chair beneath me. I felt each crack shudder through me, every pounding blow echoing the ache in my own fragile heart. Doesn’t obedience bring protection and blessing, Lord? Could I have been wrong about Your will for me?
  • I swallowed hard, attempting to quiet the churning in my stomach by sheer will. It would be easier if I could just retch. Maybe then, it would at least be over. But it wasn’t over. It hadn’t been for . . . How many days, Lord? When will it end? . . . I can’t do this anymore . . . I’m not strong enough . . . forgive me . . .
  • Reeling from the sting of betrayal, I sobbed until my face hurt. Darkness hovered about me, undaunted by the break of day. Life had turned upside down. Everything would be different now, the comforting familiarity of my routine stripped away from me by one who claimed to love me. How could this happen, Lord? Of all people to do this to me . . . how could it be her?

Tears flowed freely as my fingers moved across the keyboard, the vivid memory of my darkness flooding back in poignant waves. This time, however, my tears did not find their source in anguish.

They fell in worship of the One in whom I overcame.

My story isn’t marked by perfection, success and glory. Far more consistently, my story revolves around the breaking of my heart. But you see, my heart was bound in chains that needed breaking, and Jesus loved me enough to allow the pain so He could set me free.

Dear one, in your moments of greatest darkness, Jesus has not abandoned you. He is there with you, holding you, even when you can’t feel Him. Very often, what keeps you from recognizing His presence in your difficulty is the very chain in you He seeks to break.

In those moments of weakness, temptation comes. The enemy hisses in your ear that Jesus doesn’t love you . . . that He doesn’t even exist. He will do everything He can to convince you to turn back and abandon God’s plan for you. After all, just look at you. God has obviously already abandoned you.

His lies, dear one, come at you in those moments with such ferocity out of his own desperate fear. The enemy knows what lies on the other side of your victory: your freedom.

As you press on, taking hold of Jesus by faith, and allow Him to show you your way out (1 Cor 10:13), the enemy’s grip on your heart is broken. The oppressive chain that once bound you to him—your fear, your pride, your need for significance—falls idly to the earth with a thud. And you, dear one, will discover with elation that you are free—free to experience the all-surpassing joy of Christ’s fullness dwelling within you unfettered by the enemy’s chains.

 “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” Psalm 126:5

Will you let Him turn your broken moments into a song of praise as He ushers you into the beautiful purpose He’s planned for you? Nothing compares to the wonder of living in your God-given Promised Land.

When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.  Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”  The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:1-3

What’s in a Name?

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“To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” Revelation 2:17

I used to hate my name as a child. I’m not sure whether it was really the name or the fact that there wasn’t much I liked about myself in those days, but I always wanted to change it. I spent a lot of time pretending; in my imagination, I could be whomever I wanted. I could choose any name—something more popular or that I thought sounded prettier—anyone but who I really was.

Have you ever wanted to change your name? That happens to be one of God’s specialties.

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,  “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.  No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. Genesis 17:3-5

God added one syllable to Abram’s name: ha. This is the equivalent to the Hebrew letter “h” which is also the word ruah. Its translation means breath or spirit. God demonstrated His ownership of Abraham by placing His Spirit within his name.

Abraham’s wife received the same privilege in Genesis 17:15-16.

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.  I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Their new names reflected both the presence of God with them and the roles that they would fulfill through Him. What a glorious God who “calls things that are not as though they were” (Romans 4:17), and that’s what they become!

Sarah and Abraham aren’t the only people in Scripture to receive the blessing of a new name. One particular Disciple experienced the transforming power of discovering his new name in Christ. At Peter’s very first encounter with Jesus, Jesus looked at him and said,

“You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). John 1:42

At their very first meeting, before they had any history together, Jesus told Simon he would be called Peter. Do you know what Peter means, dear one? Rock. Consider what that represents . . . strong . . . immovable . . . firm.

Rock is an interesting choice for the Disciple who would boldly pronounce Jesus to be the Christ and then turn around and deny Him.

Yet Jesus did not define Peter by his shortcomings or his failures. He spoke into his life what He desired him to be, and that’s what Peter eventually became.

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:18

Jesus called Peter a rock knowing full well he would soon deny Him. But after Jesus’ death on the cross and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter did become that rock. God’s presence within him empowered him to become the new creation Jesus saw He could be.

By what name does Jesus call you, beloved? Who has He ordained for you to be?

I recently discovered that my name means Mighty Warrior. The revelation brings a smile to my lips. I think of those early years, how I wanted to reject my name. I was anything but a warrior. Instead I cowered behind masks.

Then the Spirit of the living God came to dwell inside me when I gave my heart to Jesus, and everything changed. The desire to hide diminished as an urgency rose within me to proclaim my Lord’ s Truth. A boldness I had never known empowered me to stand for Him.

Last February, I had the privilege of speaking at a women’s conference in Florida. During a time of prayer, one of the other speakers placed her hand on me and began to pray for me, “We need you. You are a mighty warrior.”

I can’t recall what else she prayed. Her words collapsed me to my knees. I thought of my God who calls things that are not as though they are, and I wondered if that’s what I’d become. I do not see myself as a mighty warrior. I know my frailties, my weaknesses, every shortcoming. But I have to wonder, who does God see?

Long before she was ever ready to have a child, my mother selected my name. She was only a teen herself when she decided that one day if she had a daughter, she would call her Kelley. She couldn’t even really explain what drew her to that name; she just knew that’s who her daughter would be.

So when God gave her the daughter she had hoped for, she looked at the tiny baby she held and spoke the name that had been whispered into her heart.

It would be 26 years before I would begin to embrace my name, 26 years before I would receive the Spirit and begin my transformation. But all the while, mighty warrior was spoken over me each and every day.  

Have you allowed God to give you your kingdom name? Is your life a testament to His transforming power? Trust Him to lead you to who you’re meant to be. Become the overcomer. There’s a white stone in heaven waiting with your name on it.