I Love You Lord, And I Lift My Voice...

It takes a lot of courage to admit defeat. At least that is what I was told a long time ago. Back then it had something to do with my parents trying to teach me something. Or maybe it was just something they thought I would need to put in the back of my mind to help me get through tough times. Or just maybe they thought it would help build character in a young lad who was not having a good time trying to do something beyond himself.
Have you been there? Tried to do something and no matter what you do, it just doesn’t happen the way it should. Maybe that is why we excel in one thing and just get by in others. I remember being at the school one year helping the grade six teacher with one student who was having difficulty in math. We went off to a quiet corner and started to work on what he just couldn’t get. After a few minutes I knew it wasn’t going well. So I talked to him about his favourite things. At first he didn’t get the connection between the math and the conversation. Then his eyes lit up and he started talking about airplanes. I told him he needed math if he was ever going to get a pilot licence. The excitement in his eyes began to diminish but before it was all gone we applied the math to aircraft. In minutes he saw some connections and he took on a few problems with more enthusiasm and determination.
I don’t know how he did after that but I knew he would make it in math.
We are not made to do anything and everything perfectly. Using A. Lincoln’s line with a little bit of licence, “You can do some of the things some of the time. And you can do something perfect all the time but you can’t do everything perfect all the time.” But we are made to do a few things really well. And that is a good thing for two reasons. One, others can call on us to help them and secondly, we can call on others to help us when we need the help.
Over my 60 odd years I have learned one other important lesson. That being, every one of us are good at one thing and that one thing is, Loving God with all our heart and soul, mind and strength. The most important dimension of our existence revolves around a God of love and He has put love within every single humanbeing. Even the ones that deny God. There is no defeat in how we love Him. We love Him perfectly in our own little way and that my friend is great. In life we may not win all the battles and we have to admit to some defeats but be assured, final victory will be won by Christ, the one in whom we give our love.
Something to think about
Rob