Being Dealt a Handicap

I was already a bit nervous about going to the high school retreat for school. It’s a two-day, overnight adventure, and I’m a bit more for book reading than adventure. But it’s such a great way to get to know students and play with them instead of being the teacher.

So I went to bed the night before –and laid there for an hour and a half. Then I woke up at midnight for a while. Then at 2:00 for a while. Then at 4:30 for a while.

Why, Lord? Why let me start out tired?

Then this image came to mind of when the star athlete plays a game and you force him to start with a handicap, because it wouldn’t be fair any other way. He’s so much bigger and so much more talented and so much stronger. Everyone knows, before the game even begins, that he’s going to win even if you say he has to swing with his left hand or kick with his left foot or start running five minutes after everyone else.

I wonder if it’s this way for the woman filled with Christ? If perhaps God himself says, Come on, give everyone else a head start and then let’s show them what I can do through you. 

It’s only fair.

Paul was dealt a handicap, praying three times God would remove it. (Like my three-time begging that God would help me go to sleep.)

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV)

So Paul chose to boast about his weakness.

Because, well, I suppose that’s what you do when you know, before the whistle even blows, that you’re going to win. 

So that’s me.

Tired before I’ve gotten on the bus. Two days and one night chaperoning teenagers ahead of me. And I’m going to brag beforehand that God is going to give me strength and fill me with grace. Christ’s power will rest on me, and this girl who got no rest will come out the victor.

Maybe you need to do a bit of braggin’ yourself today?