God and Me-I'm not as Smart as I Think I Am

God has been at work on my heart on one topic over the last 2 months or so. He's been consistenly telling me that I'm not nearly as smart as I think I am. (I'm sure some of you reading this are thinking, "Um yeah!") Generally speaking, when things go well for me, I have always chalked it up to my own ability to be successful. Got a good grade on a test? That's because I studied. Answered the Final Jeopardy answer correctly, even when all the tv contestants did not? That's because I've got a sponge for a brain. Maintained a fairly orderly classroom? That's my great classroom management skills that I honed through lots of practice. It always comes back to me. Me working hard. Me mentally preparing. Me being my amazing self.

But God knows better than that. He knows that all of my successes are because of His presence in my life. Be it divine intervention in the events of my life or divine gifts poured into me, little joys or big tasks, it's God at work in me. But, more often than not, I just ignore that until I meet up with a job that seems overwhelming to me. Then, I want God's help. (Actually, I just want Him to rescue me but that's another story.)

Why is it that I count God out on so much of my life? Why is it that I only ask for His advice when the chips are down? (And sometimes not even then.) I'm human, like everyone else and Satan loves to convince us humans of how independent we are. Rarely do I ask God for the patience to not yell at my husband over something I . Rarely, do I consider God's impact on my ability to prepare supper and do laundry simultaneously. And I definitely don't walk around saying things like "Gee God, thanks for helping me drive my car and avoid and accident today." or "Wow, God! You sure helped me figure out how to make one heck of an awesome chocolate chip cookie!"

This week, several things I read in Martha to the Max have reminded me that life isn't about having all the answers. It's about being weak and recognizing how truly weak you really are. It's about seeing those times when you have no answers for problems as opportunities for the Holy Spirit to help you know what to do. Gregg reaffirmed this today in his sermon. He preached from Colossians 1:9-12. One aspect he preached on was that often we think we understand God's will and we say things like "God won't give you more than you can handle." That American cliche is not Biblical at all. The truth is, God gives us more than we can handle on a daily basis and we should be tapping into His might to deal with those things. In fact, the Greek word for might in the passage was actually a word that helps form our word "dynamite" which makes a pretty cool mental image if you stop to think of God's presence in our lives as akin to TNT.

So may you decide you don't know it all this week. Instead, look for ways that your life is ready to blow. Find God in the middle of that near disaster and look for His presence close to the lit end of your fuse.