I Can Because He is

How many of us in this season are doing things they feel they are not qualified for? You cannot see me, but I am raising my hand for sure!  Being home has inspired me to do some wild things like paint the floor and rearrange furniture and make curtains….even though I know all of this will change once I can finish the remodel, it’s worth the challenge.  Just the other day I changed out a very old, weathered door knob which was falling off the front door and replaced it with a fancy keyless entry one.  This is a story to tell I assure you, one which can be applied to many of life’s circumstances.

First step was to actually buy one.  I went up and down the aisle a bazillion times in two different hardware stores.  This one or that one?  This color or that?  What color did I just get my outside light in?  Too expensive.  Too cheap.  Am I sure I can do this?  Maybe I should just wait until someone else can do this.  With all of these questions hitting me I almost gave up, yet I knew it needed to be done.  Is this not like EVERYTHING else in life?  We know something needs to change and we get excited for the healing to come only to be talked out of it by our own lack of confidence or we allow the devil to talk us out of it.  So I bought the door knob.

Step Two.  Ha!  I have trouble with tools, they are not my friends.  So step two already was bringing on the insecurities, the doubts, the “I cannot do this” along with a long list of why I should not be doing this.  Yet I opened the package.  Found the instructions and sat down to read this important document.  And there I sat on the couch for like ten minutes convincing myself I could do this.  We do this with the Bible in life situations.  We read the Word to understand how to apply it and then we sit on it.  Yes there are times we need to meditate and digest the Word, however there are truths in there we just need to immediately apply.  Twenty minutes later after some prayer and a really good pep talk I disassembled the old door knob.

Now, removing the old was no easy task.  This door knob has probably been in place for like twenty plus years. The inner ring was not wanting to budge.  Screwdriver in hand I poked and prodded and jabbed and rested.  While I was resting this fear rose up in me. I was almost to the point of just nailing the door shut and calling it good even though I had this big gaping hole to peer through.  Isn’t this just like us?  We start a healing process, get scared and quit.  The devil whispers to us that we will not succeed, why bother.  With one final push, I removed the old and was ready to install the new!  I was nervously excited.  I pressed on.

I decided reading the instructions was not enough to inspire me to complete this task with full confidence.  I was overwhelmed with the wording.  So I did what every unsure person does doing a new task, I YouTubed it.  I played the six minute video three times.  Got myself physched up like a kid ready for the coach to put them in the game.  I convinced myself there was no going back at this point so let’s just do this!  The guy said it was easy.  I chose to believe him.  I put the first piece through the hole and thought to myself, I better make sure this works, so I closed the door.

Here again, we get excited about what we read in the Bible but it does not quite make sense so we set it aside.  Then maybe we hear the Word being preached or in a song or on a download of the Bible and it begins to take root.  It gives us confidence to take the next step.  We move forward in the process when suddenly we make a mistake and shut the door.  We are then stuck on the wrong side.  Rendered unmovable via our own devices.  Here I was again at the point of just nailing the door shut and calling it quits.  I sat on the couch for awhile staring at my mistake until I asked the Holy Spirit what to do.  I grabbed a Flathead screwdriver and broke out of my own home.  Wow!  The freedom I felt for a moment!  I figured it out!  I fixed my mistake and could proceed!  Here again this is what the Word of God does for us once we believe it really works in our lives.

So long story short, I shut the door again later in the process but figured that out too.  All in all this six minute installation took like an hour but I accomplished it.  I was so excited for completing something I really thought was out of my league.  I felt a new confidence I had not experienced before.  Something I installed was actually working.  How true is this for us when we FINALLY receive the revelation of God’s Word in our lives?  Often there are roadblocks and pit stops and pity parties and times of forfeit and moments of pure frustration, yet if we press in and apply the Word we find success.  We discover God really is Who He says He is.

Once we come into the doorway of healing we must take the next step INTO the healing itself.  Whether the healing is mental, physical or spiritual we need to choose to BELIEVE the Word and receive it.  Sometimes we block our progress along the way but if we are patient with ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit for help we will make it through.  We must also take into account time is different for everyone.  What took one man six minutes to accomplish took me an hour.  People need to go at their own pace.  We must find compassion for those in our lives who are doing a new thing.

When we allow God to be a part of anything in our lives we will find confidence and a new braveness for the next thing.  We will grow closer to God and our trust will be stronger.  If we allow Him to enter our hearts He can do many amazing things.  The key here is to let Him steer the ship.  Our responsibility is to seek Him.  Read the Word.  Apply the Word.  And MOST importantly, ask for help when it does not make sense.  He has the ability to make every situation clear.

The hardest part is taking the first step to get the Word, after that it’s not smooth sailing but with God’s grace within you it will be clear sailing even in the storms.