NOT BY MIGHT

“For You are my rock and my fortress; You lead and guide me..”(Ps. 31:3 (HCSB)

I had just been called to First Baptist, Atlanta, and I immediately knew that I was inadequate for the position. From the Atlanta symphony players that were hired each week to play in the orchestra, to In Touch Rallies around the country, to a world-wide television ministry….I knew that I was incapable of accomplishing the tasks of the position. To make matters worse, for the first two weeks of my tenure there it snowed onto my desk through a crack in the office window every day. I sat at my desk and stared at the instrumental music library on the opposite wall..the orchestra room was dingy and dark, and I was intimidated by most of the staff.

I remember sitting at my desk weeping, as I prayed, “Lord, You have the wrong guy for this position..it is too daunting of a task, and I am far too inadequate to be effective, and I can’t do it!!” Then I heard the still small voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart, and the message was clear, “No, I have the right person with the wrong attitude! Anything positive that is a result of your time here will not happen on the podium, but on your knees.”

Which leads me to the passage I read in my quiet time today…Did you know that in Psalm 31 the writer refers to God forty-one times in twenty four verses??? The message is evident: our focus should not be on OUR weaknesses, failures or inadequacy, it has to remain fixed on HIS sufficiency. I love the way the prophet Zechariah puts it, ” Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.”

God will always place us in a position where “we can’t”, in order to prove that in every situation, HE CAN!!