He Became Weak for You

I like the way God designed the Bible to be all about Jesus. That means it’s no longer a guidebook for right living, but a chance to encounter this wonderful God-Man who gave His all for us. After all, if Jesus defines the Bible that way when He met those two men walking down the road to Emmaus, that the Scriptures are all about Him (Luke 24:27) and when He confronted the Pharisees for studying the Scriptures without finding Him (John 5:39), who are we to argue?

Isn’t this wonderful? It means all the stories in the Old Testament are all about Jesus and His work. There’s a story in the book of Judges that has a seemingly tragic ending. The story of Samson and how he was betrayed by Delilah is always portrayed as a lesson for us not to trust sneaky people, or not to take the things of God lightly, blah-blah-blah. But taking into account how Jesus defines Bible study, you may be surprised at what you find in the story.

Samson’s story begins in Judges 13, when he was promised to a barren mother. Then he is portrayed rescuing Israel while being a big troublemaker to other nations. Sadly, the story ends with him losing his strength after Delilah gets his hair cut off—the symbol of his being dedicated to God. The Philistines subdue him, arrest him, gouge out his eyes, and make him a slave to push the grinding mill in prison. Finally, at a feast to their pagan god, they decide to bring him in to make sport of him, the man who was known as the champion of Israel.

So there he is, blind, made to perform before the laughing Philistines, and they mock him and celebrate their victory over him. Towards the end of the story, Samson asks the Lord to give him back his strength even for that last time, and he asks the Philistines to lean his hands against two pillars. They oblige his request for rest, and guess what, the power of the Lord comes on him and he pushes the two pillars down, and the entire temple falls down, killing all his enemies inside.

Doesn’t that sound like Jesus? At the cross, He was weak, He chose to become weak, he was mocked, spat at, and ridiculed as the “Messiah,” or “champion” of Israel. Like Samson, He was also, technically, blind, because by that time He had to cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (He, as sin, could no longer see God like He usually did.) But in that moment of His weakness, in His death, He destroyed all His enemies, with arms stretched out on the cross.

I don’t know about you, but this kind of Bible study sure makes my heart burn for Him, who gave up everything and chose to become weak just to have me!

He Notices Me!

This past week I was aching to feel God's love and found Him seemingly distant. I kept crying out needing to hear a word, to feel His Presence in a tangible way, and yet I was always disappointed. I would pick up the guitar and sing, yet feel nothing. I would try to pray, but felt nothing, either. Have you ever felt that way, when you need so much to feel His touch upon your heart, and yet wind up frustrated?

Interestingly, during the singing time in church today, the song being sung suddenly swept me back to that morning when I was trying to “connect” to Him—because it was the exact song I’d sung to Him with no one else hearing me!

It turned out someone did hear me. Jesus heard me! Tears streamed down my face as I could almost hear Him telling me, “See, did you think I didn’t notice? I know every song you sing to Me, and I enjoy all of them.”

Isn’t that amazing? The God of the universe can be so moved by the slightest turning of my heart towards Him!

How can He be so captivated by me? My heart is so weak, yet every little glance I turn His way overwhelms His heart. My words are so frail, yet every word I speak to Him thrills His heart.

Thank you, Jesus... :)

Valued Below (and Beyond) My Expectation

Recently, I got offered a certain level of salary for doing some writing work. My negotiations centered more on what quality work I was able to do and how I can get out that output and even more, if not bound by the 8-hour arrangement they wanted. Meanwhile the other side had to succumb to limits on resources. In the end, the agreed rate was lower than what I would’ve hoped, and lower than what I believed the quality I offered deserved.

I’m not being arrogant, that’s just the truth. Guess what happened? After the rate was agreed, I found myself zipping past the requirements (while still turning in higher-than-average quality and speed) and not wanting to go past the minimum. Instead of going extra (although of course, it was already extra enough) to my full potential, I would spend the rest of my time with other part-time pursuits.  I felt that they did not deserve more than what they paid for, even if I knew I could do so much better, simply because they did not recognize how much I was worth (in the realm of work output).

In contrast, it got me thinking these days about the way God values me. Instead of telling me, “Hey, this is all you are worth to Me, you’d better do things to prove I didn’t make the wrong decision placing that value on you,” or demanding my service back to Him, He tells me how much He values me: on the same plane as His only Son.

“This is how much I value you, that I would give up My own Son for you.”

The effect? It makes my heart overflow everything back to Him, no strings attached, the same way He overflowed His love to me. I no longer count the hours I offer as a love dialogue to Him, or as I extend His love to others and see Him wooing them to Himself. Everything becomes fun, and I believe I am reaching my full heart potential simply because He saw value in me that I never saw myself.

We love because He first loved us, indeed!