A boy and his father were walking along a road when they came across a large stone. The boy said to his father, “Do you think if I use all my strength, I can move this rock?”
His father answered, “If you use all your strength, I am sure you can do it.”
The boy began to push the rock. Exerting himself as much as he could, he pushed and pushed. The rock did not move. Discouraged, he said to his father, “You were wrong, I can’t do it.”
The father placed his arm around the boy’s shoulder and said, “No, son, you didn’t use all your strength—you didn’t ask me to help.”
Praise God for the strength, sufficiency and security you enjoy as a blessing from above. But it isn’t everything you need. Everyone is limited, finite and has deficiencies. More than that, we fail to meet divine standards of holiness and perfection.
By ourselves, we don’t operate with all our strength. But our greatest weakness isn’t our lack of strength. Our greatest weakness is being deceived that we have everything it takes to move every rock.
“The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans … The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation” (Psalm 118:7,8,14).
PRAYER: Your strength, O God, is enough at anytime. Your power, O God, overcomes everything. I am not almighty, but I know that you are. I want to trust even more that with your strength and power you save me, help me and make me stronger. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION: Read Psalm 118. In what ways did the psalm writer need God’s strength? How did things end up?
