Weakness & Power

The following is an article I wrote for the Calvary Chapel Natomas emagazine called "CCN Connect Magazine" with the help of a fellow sister and editor extradonair. http://www.ccnatomas.com/index.php/about/ccn-connect-mag

I also do not own the above picture, any rights or credit to the image.

Like many Christians, I love what Paul says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." These words always seem so encouraging and empowering, don't they? And yet there are times when I wonder, "If I can do all things through Christ, why do I fail so often? Why do I get exhausted in ministry? Why does it feel like difficult tasks chew me up and spit me out? Why does it often feel like my strength is nowhere to be found?

Yet in these very questions lie the answers to my dilemma. If I am honest with myself, and if you are honest with yourself, we'd both have to admit that the operative word we're tempted to focus on in verse 13 is "I". I'll tell you right now, it's my favorite part. Why? Because my carnal nature loves to feel self-empowered and is too often, proud of it. My pride and independent spirit join forces and in that moment, who needs God?

But something I have noticed as I grow in my relationship to Christ: God never strengthens those who think they don't need His assistance. End of story! And I'm not the only one to reach this conclusion. The same confident saint who wrote Philippians 4:13 also wrote 2 Corinthians 12:9 which reads, "He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Philippians 4:13 is one of those verses well-meaning Christians toss into virtually every difficult circumstance. But I wonder how many believers ever think about how these two verses are connected. Human weakness does not automatically qualify us to receive God's strength any more than being human automatically qualifies us to receive eternal life.We must choose to ask for and receive both or gain neither.

There must be a recognition of and surrender to the reality of our utter depravity apart from our Creator. And we must ask for and by faith receive God's supernatural strength which will enable us to do what the natural man cannot. Strength from Christ is the only strength that will allow us to "do all things", and the only way we will ever personally experience this powerful truth is when we humble ourselves and confess our need.

Over the past few weeks, God has given me the opportunity to understand this truth in a deeper, more personal way. Life just seemed to get harder and harder with each passing day. And I cam to a point where I'd had enough. No matter how deep I dug, or how far down within my soul I tried to reach, the cupboard was always bare. There was no strength or energy left to cope with the challenges I faced.

Completely overwhelmed and exhausted, I plopped down on my couch and cried. Thank God for the presence and wisdom of godly mothers. My mother sat quietly beside me as I poured out my desperate laundry list of perceived failures and inadequacies. I was ashamed to admit, even to her, that I could not keep up with everything and didn't know what to do. My strength was gone... period.

After listening to my woes, my mother wisely replied, "Maybe God wants you here, where you have no choice but to rely on Him."

I have to confess, that is not what I wanted to hear. My pride screamed, "I don't want to be a weak person! I don't want to have to rely on anyone for anything! I want to be an 'I can do all things' kind of saint." It wasn't until later that day that the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and I finally realized that I could not know the power of His strength without first understanding my own human frailties.

No, human weakness does not automatically equal God's indwelling strength. But when a human heart chooses to admit their utter helplessness apart from their Creator; when a soul surrenders their will to God and cries out in utter despair, 'Lord I need you!', they have the immutable promise of God to answer such a plea. And I cannot be an "I can do all things" kind of saint while depending on my own strength.

The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:10, said, "...power is perfected in weakness...for when I am weak then I am strong." I now understand this truth better today than yesterday. How about you?

Loving the Time of Small Things

As people, I think it is in our nature to want to do big things in our lives and it only makes sense because our world is a world that seems to only recognizes big things.

As we sit in school and learn about history we are only give the “big picture” and, for the most part, we only learn of major events. We are surrounded by reports and stories of great people who are “larger than life” and have done unbelievable things. We are taught to judge success by size, big houses, big bank accounts, big reputations, big deeds, big sacrifices, and even big churches.  It is hammered into us that the “important” and “prestigious” jobs are the ones where you are doing big things everyday whether it’s saving lives as a doctor, going into space as an astronaut, or bringing entertainment to millions of people as an actor or singer. We soon realize that it is the above that get recognized and praised by “the little people”. How can we not have a “go big or go home” attitude when that idea is constantly being pushed upon us?

I admit that I believed in that lie of the world. There were somedays when I would be sitting in my cube at work thinking about when I had all these big dreams of how my life would be and I would feel like an utter failure because I was “only” an office technician. That lie even discouraged me from giving to people. Like if I found out that one of my friends desperately needed a car, I would get so discouraged because I couldn’t go out and buy them one. I would consider praying for them or giving them rides but then would think “They don’t prayer or a couple rides here and there, they need a car!” and I would end up doing nothing at all.

It’s been just recently that God has started to work this lie out of my heart.  Ephesians 1:1 starts, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God…” Paul is recognizing that God’s will for him, at that time in his life, was to be an apostle. The very same can be said of us and where we are in our lives, such as, “Melissa, an office technician by the will of God.”  That means that no matter what I wish I could be doing, right now God has me as an office technician and I should be working, where He has willed for me to be, for His glory. I might consider my job as insignificant and the world may agree but if I am obeying God and glorifying Him in this job then God sees it and thinks it neither small nor insignificant. God may never will for me to be famous or rich but He has willed for me to know Him, obey Him, and glorify Him, that is the biggest thing ever and God doesn’t care what setting we do it in.

 Small things may also lead to big things.
 

Luke 16:10 ¹⁰ “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”

I used to get so frustrated when I would decide that I wanted to do something big for God but it always seemed like it took forever to get past all the small things I had to do before I got to the big thing. For example, I had a desire to go to Japan on a missions trip and I just knew that when I got there people were going to be saved left and right. But, before I could get there I had to get a passport, get checked by my doctor, fill out applications, raise money, buy my plane ticket, and on and on. All those little details that needed to be “taken care of” before I could get to Japan and do something big for God. All that was just taking care of the physical things; as a Christian, there were also a lot of seemingly small spiritual things I had to do in preparation as well. 

We always seem to forget that it is the small things that make the big things possible. It is the small things that prepare us for the big things. It would be like someone deciding that they didn’t want to bother with the schooling and they were just going to start being a doctor and operating on people. Good idea?

 Do you think that Moses would have had the faith to part the Red Sea if he hadn’t spent years and years learning to have faith in the little things? 

God, thank you so much that you prepare us and that you consider great the choices, the tasks, and the heart of everyday things.

Zechariah 4:10, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…”

What is Your Price?

Ok guys, so it has actually been a whole year since I have posted anything on this blog but let’s get back on the horse shall we?

 Zechariah 11:12,13 “12 Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter.”

 This verse is a prophesy referring to Judas betraying Jesus for 30 shekels of silver. There are just some people in the Bible that I have never liked, people who I have never been able to connect with or relate to mostly. Judas has always been one of those people for me. Here was a man who walked with Jesus, he spent years beside Him witnessing His love, watching His miracles, and hearing His Word. Yet, he still betrayed the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver. How in the world was I supposed to relate to that kind of person? Then, I heard a sermon on the above verses and I realized that I am a Judas.

 Judas in a sense, wasn’t selling Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, he was selling his own soul. He was selling his relationship with Jesus and condemning himself to an eternity without Him. The pastor preaching the sermon then asked, “What is your price?” At what price do I sell my relationship with Jesus?

It was really sad but I realized that I “sell” my relationship with Him for the pettiest things and that really any price is petty. I will knowingly damage my relationship with Jesus so that I can enjoy the passing pleasure of a sin. I have sold God’s presence for a half hour show that my flesh loves to watch and when Jesus has asked me to spend time getting to know Him I have sold it for a few more minutes of sleep. Our relationship with our Lord and Savior is worth more than anything that this world can offer and yet we sell it for so little.

 3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”

 And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

 5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. Mathew 27:3-5

 The money that Judas had betrayed Christ for became something that he didn’t want anymore. He realized that what he had sold was far greater than what he had received for it. That show I had wanted to watch might have entertained for a while but then I got bored or it ended and I had to wait until the next episode. The few more minutes of sleep weren’t that great and I was still tired or maybe it was great but once I got up it was gone and I gained nothing eternal from it. Isn’t it so like the world to say, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

I have sold my relationship with God to hang out with worldly friends who I had such fun being with but then when I was hurting or struggling they couldn’t help or disappeared saying, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

 I am just so thankful that our God is merciful and that He values a relationship with us so much that He would pay the price of His own blood, His own perfect Son to have that relationship with us. He paid the ultimate price for us, so let me not sell it for anything for everything is less than what it is worth.

 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Mathew 16:26

 

Looking for God

It seems to me that I am being convicted a lot lately. As I avoid reading God’s Word under the excuse of being too busy or too tired and so naturally move further and further away from the image of God and more towards my flesh, when I do hear The Word it is in the form of conviction.

This last Sunday the sermon was on 2 Timothy Chapter 3 which talks about what the hearts of people will be like in the last days and how to avoid being insnared by deception during those times.

I have always been skeptical when people tell me that we are in the last days. Seems to me that every generation thinks they are the last and all Christians think they will live to see Christ’s return. I found myself adopting a “That’s what they all say,” attitude and consoling myself with the verse that says that no one knows the time or date of His return.

Then my pastor said something that changed my attitude and perception. He reminded me that we have been in “The Last Days” since Jesus ascended into heaven and that the reason that Christians in every generation since are so sure that He will return in their time is because that is what they sincerely hope for. They are looking at His quick return as a wonderful promise, whereas I have been looking at it as a threatening one.

Why? Why do I want Him to stay away? Whenever I think about His return I say to myself that I am not ready. There are so many things that I have yet to do and experience. What does that say about me except that I have entangled myself with the things of this world and have not set my eyes on the eternal.

I look a it as a strict father returning home and putting a stop to all my games and fun. His return means that I have to stop living my way and start living His. How sad and warped is my view?! I have the same view of God as the servant who was given one talent in the parable of the talents did in Mathew 25:14-30

14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

The first two servants loved their master and looked for His return with great expectancy. They came to him as little children come to a loving father, so excited to show him what they had done to please him in is absence.

The other servant looked at the master quite differently than the first two. He looked upon the master not as a loving father figure but as a cold hard slave owner who he “knew” to be “a hard man” and looked for his return with dread.

Why do I see God as the servant with the one talent saw his master? I say with my mouth that I love Him and I sing of wanting His return and of His greatness but I live as a spoiled child trying to get as much as I can before the Father comes to claim me.

Change my heart, O God.

Spiritual Fitness

I joined a gym recently. I got to a point where I just couldn’t stand being so out of shape, I remembered how I looked and felt a few years ago in my physical peak and I longed to be like that again. I have tried a couple times to be active and to change my eating habits but though my intentions were good I never stuck with those changes long enough for them to make any difference. It took me awhile to get into the sad shape I am in and it was a slow process in getting here and filled with excuses and justifications as to why it was ok. I remember looking in the mirror every once in a while and convincing myself that it wasn’t so bad or that just a few changes were necessary and easily applied if I wanted to fix it. I was and am jealous of those who were fit and skinny because they “were/are that way naturally” it seemed.

Well, I joined a gym and I started going 3 times a week. I got a couple sessions with a personal trainer and I was so excited! About a week later I was complaining to my roommate about how my trainer had worked me so hard the day before and about how I was sore and tired and yet had to back to the gym today. She lovingly admonished me and lectured me on how it would be hard at first and a chore but that it was for my best and the price I had to pay to reach my goal of physical fitness.

When she said that I thought that the same could be said of our Spiritual health and fitness as well. The thought came and went quickly and I didn’t give it much attention after that. That is until I listened to a sermon on 1 Timothy 4:6-8 “6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

It is very interesting that Paul uses the example of physical fitness to describe our spiritual growth and health. Just like our physical bodies require special attention, serious effort and hard work to be healthy so our spiritual being requires the same. Spiritual growth and maturity in Christ does not come naturally or come automatically. Many people think and some are even taught that just by sitting in the pews on Sunday they are going to absorb spiritual maturity and leave the church spiritually healthy and in shape. There is a partial truth to that but as we know from the whole Garden of Eden/snake incident, partial truths are dangerous. Going to church and sitting in the pews is a great thing and God commands us to fellowship and to gather with the saints but we deceive ourselves if we think that just sitting in the pews will give us spiritual maturity and fitness.

So how do you exercise yourself towards godliness? 1. By cutting unhealthy things out. This is one that I struggle with greatly both spiritually and physically. There are so many delicious sins out there and just like someone who wants to be physically fit has to quit eating all that junk food, if you want to be fit spiritually you must quit filling yourself with things that are bad for your spirit. Hebrews 12:1 “1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

What is weighing you down as a Christian? What’s holding you back? What junk are you filling yourself with instead of God? If you are unsure ask Him and He will tell you. Whatever it is cast it aside and run after Jesus. Get rid of the baggage, the distractions that have attached themselves to you or even that you yourself are holding onto and just let it go.

What is hard is that sometimes we like the junk, it tastes good, and it’s fun. Sometimes they are even good things like school, friends, family, hobbies and relationships, but you have to ask yourself if you are allowing those good things to take you away from the Best thing, the only thing, that really matters and that is a relationship with Christ Jesus. It may be that whatever is weighing you down isn’t sinful and so you convince yourself that it is ok that you keep hold of it. Remember the parable of the sewer who sprinkled seeds that fell on different kinds of ground. Don’t let yourself be tangled and choked out by the things of this world. Don’t let your spirit suffer and neglect God because you are to busy with other things. Drop them and run to Jesus.

2. You must add good things in. But in order to add things in you must have first cut things out to make room for the things that you need to add in. “I don’t have time to read my Bible or go to Church.” Cut out things in your life until you have time. They might be really “important things” but nothing is as important as knowing and spending time with God. So if you don’t have room to do number 2, go back to number 1 and keep going back and making cuts until you do have room. 2 Peter 1:5-7 “5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” Chase after these things.

Now, before I go on about Spiritual Fitness I have to make a disclaimer. None of this matters or is relevant if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you are dead spiritually then no matter of exercise is going to help, you are still dead. Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches. The branch is connected to the vine at all times, not just Sundays, and if it’s not then it is dead and cannot be nourished and cannot grow or bear fruit. Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing. We have to be connected to Jesus all the time engaging in our relationship with the Lord and fellowshipping with Him. Only then can we bear fruit. We cannot just hop on and off the vine for a little nourishment now and then, it’s just not possible, we are either connected to Him and bearing fruit or we are cut off and thrown into the fire.

3. Engage in activity or ministry. In order to be truly physically fit, diet is never enough and in fact diet is perfected by exercise. For spiritual health there must be an outpouring of the things God has blessed you with. We tend as Christians in this country to just receive and receive. We have knowledge about so many Godly things and truths and yet we never share them or pour them out and people are dying around us. We know a lot of things but we do nothing.

We must be proactive in our pursuit of God. It is called our Christian walk, walking is an action, it moves us forward, even backwards sometimes but it moves us. We need to move spiritually. Actions more than intentions tell us what we truly believe. It truly amazes me sometimes at how we are willing to spend all this effort and time into looking good on the outside when our spiritual man lay on his deathbed inside. It’s going to be hard, it’s going to seem like a chore sometimes but we must persevere if we are to become spiritually fit.

Highs and Lows

We all have days that we feel good and everything seems to work out and even if it doesn't we don't mind too much. Then we have days like I had today. The whole day creeps by and there is nothing really that makes it a bad day, you just feel that its a bad day. There are days when you are safely behind God's hedge, protected from everything that this world and the enemy can throw at you and there are days when your guard gets let down for some reason and everyone of the devil's fiery arrows finds its way to your heart. (The devil has great aim by the way)

For about a week I had been behind the hedge. Walking on water if you will, just hearing God's voice and following after Him wholeheartedly. I joined a gym, I was eating better, work was all caught up and going well, most importantly I was in God's word and on my knees before Him often. I even found a great church and made a new friend. Everything was moving and in the right direction to boot.

However, since the beginning of this week things have slowly started moving downhill. It was just little things at first. Little doubts that my good fortune would last, tiny setbacks, bouts of boredom or loneliness. All signs that the devil was busy planting little land-mines in my mind, that he was once again waiting outside my door, waiting for the chance to devour me.

The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 2:3 says "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." It tells us plainly that hardship is a part of the Christian walk and that we must be ready for it and endure it like a good soldier endures hardship everyday on the battlefield. Unfortunately for me, I really stink and enduring.

Not only is this a problem that has shown itself in my faith but also in every other area of my life as well. My job, my relationships, everything. I can persevere for a moment, for one glorious spurt I am doing good and then hardship comes and I fall apart. Discouragement, lonliness, failure, the Devil knows so well how to reach me. God sends me reminders throughout the week, little hints that He is working and I am full of faith and hope. But they stop for a day or two and I am disparing that nothing is changing fast enough and I have forgotten the blessing before.

Am I so like the Isrealites in the Old Testament, who walked across the the ocean on dry land, saw it swallow their foes and then cried out so quickly afterwards "Why have you led us out here to die?!"

In 1 Timothy 1:12-13 Paul says, " And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, 13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man;" God enabled Paul, He strengthened him, He empowered him, He gave him everything he would need for the ministry because Paul was faithful. He showed up lol God knew that through thick and thin, through the good times and the bad, the blessing and the hardships that Paul would endure.

I know that God can change me and though it might take more hardships to teach me to endure I welcome it to be counted among the faithful.

.

Lessons from Deborah

In our Bible Study on Wednesday nights the girls were assigned the task of researching a woman of the Bible that we admired and to write about what made her a great leader. My mind went to Deborah.

There are many great women in the Bible and each of their stories serve to tell us something about the way we have been created as women. As I go through and read their stories I am both encouraged and convicted about my life as a woman of God.

I didn't know much about Deborah except that she was the only woman Judge in the Bible and yet I have always admired her and to some degree envied her. Even before I began to research her she seemed to me amazing and unique, and I was sure she would live up to my expectations.

The name Deborah means "bee", which immediately caught my attention as my name also means bee. Every book and commentary that I read mentioned the meaning of her name and that she indeed lived up to it in that "she was industrious, sagacity (wise), and of great usefulness to the public, her sweetness to her friends and sharpness to her enemies." I love the last line that stated she was sweet to her friends and sharp like a bee sting to her enemies. I have always loved the idea that a woman was made to show the graceful, nurturing, sensitive, loving side of God as only a woman can and yet God did not make her helpless or weak, He also put in women a fierceness, strength, and ability to rise to the occasion.

That is exactly what Deborah did. She became a Judge during a period of time when Israel's enemy and oppressors actually resided within their borders, living among them. Because of this their oppression of the Israelites was much greater than it had ever been before. Yet Deborah answered the call from the Lord to awake.

Perhaps the enemies of Israel did not see her as a threat because she was a woman and therefore let her hold council under her palm tree without much opposition, or maybe she held court under the palm despite the danger to her life. If it was the first then they sorely underestimated this prophetess of God.

Like Daniel who prayed and followed God despite the lion's den, Deborah continued to do what God had called her to do. This blows my mind sometimes. I look at myself and how easily I get discouraged and I marvel at Deborah's strength. Often I start out to follow God and I yearn to go to the next level of my spiritual walk/relationship with Him. I go along making little sacrifices and little changes in my life to bring me closer to my goal when all of a sudden I find myself face to face with the life I want to have in Christ, only to glimpse the price that comes with it and shrink back.

I get a hint of the pain and suffering that comes from going through the refiner's fire and I falter. I decide that the level I am at isn't so bad after all and I'm comfortable there, so I stay, I give up and what is it that I am unwilling to do? Give up a favorite tv show that I shouldn't be watching, commit to going to bed a little earlier to give myself time to read His word, deny myself of worldly pleasures to better serve Him? I am shamed by those who suffer injury and lose their lives to live for God. Oh, to have the faith of Deborah and Daniel, to keep worshipping and following God at any cost.

As, the story goes on Deborah sends for a man named Barak and gave him a message from God saying to go to war against their oppressors and God would deliver them into the hands of the Israelites. Barak replied, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go." Deborah agreed to go with him but told him that because of this the glory of killing the general of the enemy army would be given to a woman. Arising from her place of council Deborah went with Barak and the army of Israel to face the Canaanite army.

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera(the enemy general) into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?” Long story short, the Israelites massacred the Canaanite army and Sisera who escaped the battle was killed by a woman when he hid inside her tent.

Deborah, being a woman in the ancient world, could not command and army, but that did not stop her from working within the boundaries that God had put in her life to do great things, deliver God's people, and fulfill God's purpose for her life. She was fine with the limitations that God had given her and was willing to "share the spotlight" with Barak to complete the task which God had given them. "He could do nothing without her head, nor she without his hands; but both together made a complete deliverer, and effected a complete deliverance. The greatest and best are not self-sufficient, but need one another."

This is a hard lesson for anyone to learn. There are many times when I wish that I wasn't diagnosed with depression, or that I wasn't so shy or that I looked different and I have even wondered if I could be more use if I was the opposite gender. The thing is, God knew exactly what He was doing when He made me and you. He gave us our limitations and boundaries be they cultural, physical, emotional, or mental. He knows the limits placed on us and yet He still assigned us a great purpose to fulfill despite these things. That means that some boundaries we will have to conquer with His help and some limits we have to accept and work within them.

Deborah did not try to fight the rules that her society had placed upon her as a woman. Nowhere in her story do we see her complain about her gender or the role that came with it. Instead, she joined with someone without that particular limitation to help her get the job done. Like Deborah we have to sometimes be willing to step aside and let others help us in the tasks God has given us and remember to join with the one who has no limits, God.

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.- Washington Irving