Strength in Weakness

My very existence speaks to the idea that I am both frail and limited, yet simultaneously powerful beyond my imagination. I did not create myself; I gave no instruction to my natural father to deposit seed into my mother’s womb. I had no control over which sperm would successfully meet and fertilize my mother’s egg, stationed in her Fallopian tube for a mere 24 hours, altering the egg so that no other sperm could get in. No prompting from my intelligence ensured the release of a sperm with a Y chromosome to lock down a human of the female kind. Implantation in the uterus and the mucus plug that sealed the cervix – my eventual escape route – all occurred outside my awareness – after all: at that point, I was nothing more than a rapidly-multiplying collection of cells. But I was more: my existence is the reflection of a carefully-constructed plan, designed by my Father before anything was made, and orchestrated, to accomplished a pre-determined purpose according to His will. This life no more ‘belongs’ to me than does anything else I can take with me after I die – it’s only in my possession for a time…but my Father gives us the ability to think and reason like Him – He left us that choice when He left the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden and gave Adam instructions not to eat of its fruit. Up until the time Adam went contrary to the will and instructions of God, all He knew was what Christ said. But, when opinion entered in, man’s dependence changed: instead of continuing reliance on the One who provides all things, we switched allegiance to ourselves, who are weak and defenceless. We did not come into existence by our own power; and when it’s time for breath in this body to cease, I’ll have no choice in the matter. What we do, then, in the indeterminate period between the dawning of life and its cessation, is the only thing that is within the realm of our control. We can continue to rely on the self to ‘decide’ our path; or, we can appeal to the One to whom all breath belongs, and ask Him for the blueprints to the greatness He designed…