When Was Jesus at His Strongest?

Sounds awfully close to blasphemy, isn't it?  I fully adhere to the fact that Christ was fully God and fully man, but I still ask the question: at what point did He show His greatest strength?  Was it His miracles or His teachings that showed His greatness?  When was Christ at His absolute pinnacle?  

Is there a reason for this inquiry?  It came to me when I was speaking with someone who was in a terrible state.  Recently coming to Christ, he is still having some difficulty coming to terms with his newly diagnosed, debilitating (and permanent) illness and other problems plaguing his life.  He is, however, searching for his answers in Scripture and prayer.  As we spoke, I asked the Holy Spirit to guide my words, to say something that would help this new brother in Christ.  The Holy Spirit then gave me a thought:  it was after the arrest of Jesus that Christ showed His deep strength.  When He was beaten and bloody and nailed to the cross, as He hung by His hands and feet, naked in front of all his persecutors and only a few of his followers, Christ was not weak.  Jesus could have called a legion of angels down from heaven and the universe would never be the same.  Instead, He was obedient to the Will of the Father, showing immense strength and honor.  As He was also fully human, can we possibly imagine the strength it took to keep from calling out in anger and pain, to stick to the Father's plan?  When Jesus could not move, could not preach in parables, could not heal the sick, make the blind see, the deaf hear, or dispel demons; it is here that His mighty strength is seen like at no other time. 

How does this help us, or this guy?  The fallen world sees strength first as a physical attribute, then as a mental or moral kind of thing.  Those who reject the Christ cannot see strength as acceptance of another's will because they cannot fathom acquiescing to a Creator they will not know.  However, through the willing acceptance of His death on the cross, Jesus demonstrates that it is in following the Will of the Father that we can be at our absolute strongest.  When we accept our weaknesses, when we rely on God and take the time to listen for the Holy Spirit to speak to us, it is then that we can be used by the Father in ways we cannot even imagine.  Therefore, we can see our inabilities as God's gateways.  Remember, when we cannot, God can.  

God blessed me greatly when He allowed a physical limitation with debilitating pain to afflict me, because He has also granted me the grace of a new understanding.  Only now, after my own experience, can I better understand Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians.  In verse 9, God answers Paul's request to remove a "thorn in his side" by saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness".  Although I wouldn't wish my pain on my worst enemy (and I have a list), I also would never give up the experience and grace I have received from this disability.  My God is sufficient for me, how about you?

I'm Back, Looking Back at a Better Back, and Forward to Blessed Back!

That's a lot of "backs", did the surgery go well?  I have only God to praise that the surgery, which only two years ago I was told would be a disaster if I went through with it, turned out as well as it did.  The very day after surgery, I walked about fifteen yards with a walker, and totally without the nerve pain that has plagued my right leg for the last five plus years.  There was a part of me (my imagination) that wanted to run down the hall crying out, "Thank God!  He is my salvation!".  I guess in some ways we should always feel like that, but when we experience a level of grace of such magnitude, we are once again reminded of all that He does for us.

But wasn't it the surgeon that did the work?  Why must you bring God into this?  It is true that the surgeon that performed my operation was well qualified and experienced, but don't forget that all manner of things could have gone wrong while I was under the knife.  You see, for those of us who are witnesses to the Lord's goodness, we can see the divine intervention that the Hand of God works in our lives; and we have to proclaim that.  


So you're calling this a miracle?  You're going to be 100%?  As for the miracle part, all I can say is that two years ago I was told that I would have to live like I was.  I was told that nothing could be done, and that if I found someone "to cut on" me, it would only make matters worse.  Now that I have had someone cut on me, I'm doing great.  As my doctor put it, my nerve was caught between a hammer and an anvil, and he took away the hammer.  Yes, he took a pretty large chunk of bone off my spine, then used some of that bone, titanium rods and screws to seal the deal.  This morning, I walked 1/2 a mile.  Before the operation, I couldn't think of walking any fraction of a mile.  I'm doing some exercises that before the surgery were impossible for me.  So is this a miracle?  I don't know.  I know that I'm better than I was, better than I hoped to be.  I still have pain, but it is much different than I've had before, and there is less of it.  Maybe we toss around the concept of miracles too easily, or maybe we want them to be more grandiose; I believe that without God's help I wouldn't have gotten this far.  As for whether I'll be 100%, the doctor doesn't think that will be possible, and I don't either.  Although, here again, I leave that up to God to see how far I will go.  I'm looking forward to what this journey leads to next.