The Power We Hold

I’ve found recently that I am getting credit for things I don’t deserve. The list of recent accomplishments and recognitions in my life – all of it was not me. These things simply do not happen by the work of my own hands. I had help along the way…a lot of help. While family, friends, advisors, professors, bosses, and even strangers have held me on their backs for me to get to this point, a masterpiece of this magnitude could not have happened without a Master Creator sustaining life and all things good. So while I appreciate the thought that I am some kind of superhuman, I am here to set the record straight. It’s not me, but Him.

My only role is to wake up every day and choose. That is the power we hold: choice. I open my eyes every day and recognize the potential within these few hours. I will go to class today, even if I don’t want to, because I have something to learn. There’s always something to learn. And I will go to my job at Pelham Road in an effort to serve God’s kingdom just as I am called. Even when I feel unqualified or overwhelmed, I am given the gift of teaching students about God and I will never turn that down. I will choose to work out and eat healthily (just as Wellness Class is teaching me this semester) because my life is something worth protecting. I will choose to read books in those brief moments of spare time because I don’t want to waste a single second. I will think before I act, pray before I decide, trust before I judge, and love before all else. And above all, I will wake up every single day and choose to chase after the God who makes my choice possible and valuable. Within these choices lies the power we hold.

Trust me, there are plenty of days when it is not easy to choose what is right. There are days I am tired or worn out or underappreciated. Heck, there are days I don’t even know what’s right. That’s where this comes full circle. For every time we mess up or get lazy or fall flat on our face, we have to remember it’s not us. We don’t make the earth spin at the exact rate to make a year exactly 365.25 days while maintaining an entire universe that is bigger than the human brain can comprehend. That’s not our job – thank goodness! Our job is to do the best we can because no one can ask for anything more than that. So we wake up and we choose God every day because that is the power we hold.