“Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:6-7)
Back in the 1960s and 70s there was a popular TV show called The Beverly Hillbillies. It told the story of an impoverished homesteader in the Tennessee mountains, Jed Clampett. Then oil was discovered on his property he became rich overnight.
What few people realize is that the story of Jed Clampett is based upon a real person. The man was Ira G. Yates, Jr., who lived on a 20,000-acre ranch of worthless desert in Pecos County, Texas. For many years he lived in abject poverty and all his waking hours were spent worrying over how he could pay his mortgage and feed his family. Then, one day, the Marathon Oil Company discovered an immense oil field beneath his land. His oil wells would eventually yield 125,000 barrels per day. Ira Yates, who nearly starved while living atop Texas’ richest oil field, became wealthy overnight.
Here in his final epistle, Paul urges his “true son in the faith” not to live in spiritual poverty or be ruled by timidity and self-doubt any longer. There is a vast reservoir of power, love, and boldness above him and within him. It is the Holy Spirit of God who fills his heart. Paul admonishes young Timothy to plug into that power, to drill into that source, and to take hold of God for everything he needs but lacks in his natural self.
We’re mistaken when we say that God will never ask us to do what’s impossible for us. God’s method of making us grow is to do the very opposite. God frequently confronts us with tasks that are beyond our power to accomplish. Why? So that we’ll turn to Him for strength and wisdom and trust Him for success. This is the story of every saint of God in the Bible. Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, and hundreds of others were all too inadequate for the job. But by clinging to God in faith, they “conquered kingdoms, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, and from weakness were made strong” (Hebrews 11:32-34). Heed the words of the great preacher, Phillips Brooks:
“Do not pray for easier lives, pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks. In doing so, not only will the accomplishment of your task be a miracle – you will be the miracle. Every day you will wonder at the grace and power that has come into your life because you trusted God, faced the challenges of life, overcame them, and were transformed in the process.”
REFLECTION
- Are you faced with a challenge that seems beyond your power to conquer?
- Are you weary and frustrated from trying to do everything in your own strength?
- Rekindle the flame within you and draw strength from God’s Almighty Spirit. By doing so you will be transformed from weakness to strength.
