TEXT:
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
PHILIPPIANS 4:13
REFLECTION:
Any athlete will tell you that you may spend years perfecting your body, but what separates the good from the best, is the ability to go that extra mile mentally. So often ourselves we may lack the confidence or self belief that we are truly worthy, of exceeding our own perceived limitations, of pushing our boundaries. Hence, this particular text is unsurprisingly popular to the former, ATHLETES. And, I’m NOT!!!
Mid 2004, I was at the Manchester football stadium for my final celebrity judges audition coveting the boot camp slot for X-Factor. I could feel the world underneath my feet as I didn’t only get through the packed and snaking queues but was able to convince the acid-tongued music-producer mogul, Simon Cowell with a sympathetic “yes”. That glaring fame and fortune I could almost lick it right infornt of my salivating lips as I was standing in front of the panel in a wide-spangled stadium.
Apostle Paul’s Philippians 14:3 that supposed to flash as the banner on my back and pole-vaulted me to get through the quarter finals (Boot Camp, top 50s), has rather pitchforked me to the bottom end of the ocean. Everything’s plummeting down as to “Nos” (from Simon and Louie) and only a motherly “yes” from Sharon Osbourne. That coveted dream ended just right there. Yes, the pathological deception and the lustful-self indulging desire had taken over my ambitious heart and my fickle-mindedness. Took me months and months to realise that,… Behold, it was rather a “YES” and Amen for my spiritual transformation and triumph. I have been “saved”. Hallelujah! and to re-echo what Apostle has said in the previous verse, “For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:11-12).
Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be mindful that taking this text as if asking God to do things in our behalf is not only deceiving but actually a blatant blasphemy. Our faith may be failing but He will hold us fast.
PRAYER:
MY GOD AND MY LORD, I thank Thee for sending Thy only begotten Son, Thy Word made flesh for all mankind. May He give me that strength and wisdom to carry me and lead me to see beyond what this deceiving and temporal world to offer, especially at times when I think it not possible to go any further, may I surrender in His might to take me beyond my limits, when the mountain seems too steep. In His message and in our faith, only You can take us to heights unknown. In all such things you strengthen me, Lord, and so I give thanks to You and Thy Son, Amen.
Thanks for sharing Poy. No amount of the world’s fame can compare our relationship in Christ. He is our all in all. “Faith doesn’t deminish our strength, but the exercise of our faith in Christ who is our strength.”
Keep it coming, Poy. I love your blogs.
I am blessed with your life’s revelation Carl. Thank you for sharing this. Today my heart is pounding, with anxiety, fear and worries. I know that I shouldn’t be feeling such because Jesus is with me, I need God to comfort me and give me peace and joy each day of my life.
I would like to believe that the x-factor innate ib us is our FAITH in
God. And if one is aware of this, a glimpso of heaven is assured.
God alone can do and help us in our moments of desparatuon. Loneliness, sadnessand all the depressions that we feel.
As long as we believe in the eternal power of God, we can overcome all the trials and hardships in life if only we believe.