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We All Have Different Strengths, Find Yours and Use Them for Good

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Where Is Real Strength Rooted?

Everyone of us is unique. Our abilities and talents are also different. The problem is, too many people don’t use their gifts…or even bother to figure them out. This makes for a very mediocre world.

There is so much more available to us if we will just find and use our strengths!

Like the wind and the oak tree, strengths come in a variety of styles. The wind blows and carries on doing damage and causing havoc. While the mighty oak tree stands there swaying in the wind and weathering the storm with its roots firmly planted.

The Oak Tree

by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr

A mighty wind blew night and day
It stole the oak tree’s leaves away
Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground
While other trees fell all around
The weary wind gave up and spoke.
How can you still be standing Oak?

The oak tree said, I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two
Carry every leaf away
Shake my limbs, and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth
Growing stronger since my birth
You’ll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn’t sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I’ve found, with thanks to you
I’m stronger than I ever knew

Having deep roots will make weathering storms more likely.

Navy SEALs are trained to swim miles under water in complete darkness, unable to see anything. Then they swim to the lowest, darkest part of the enemy’s ship to attach the explosives and then swim back to where they started. All of this is done in the dark. Their training prepares them for these types of missions.

We need to get trained and be prepared. It is likely that we will encounter dark times as we work to carry out our mission.

If we are prepared…we will be at our very best in our darkest moments.

Regular communication with God is the best way to get trained and prepared for whatever life throws at you.

In John 17:6-19 Jesus asks for strength to endure, not that problems be taken away. One prayer that God always answers is strength to endure. We just have to ask.

Plant your roots in God’s Word so that you can weather the storms of life and use your strengths wisely.

Strong Connections Help Us to Accomplish Our Mission

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The Important Thing is to Be Clear on That Mission

There is strength in numbers. We don’t have to look very hard to find evidence of this. Fish gather in schools, bees in swarms, birds in flocks, cattle in herds, wolves in packs. These connections can help avoid being eaten by predators or by joining forces they can take down bigger enemy.

The same is true for the military. Research has shown that groups who collectively experience pain, turmoil, catastrophe, or significant life events tend to form stronger social bonds and become more cohesive.

I’m currently reading the book, “Lone Survivor”, this is the story of Marcus Luttrell. He was the only survivor of the extraordinary firefight on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border which led to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. The strength of the bond between these SEALs was evident before I even finished the prolog.

God knew there was strength in numbers from the very beginning.

At each point in the creation story, God steps back and says that what He has made is good, up until He makes human beings. Having made Adam, our Creator steps back and says that something about the first man and his situation is not good: “It is not good that the man should be alone”. To make things right, God creates Eve…  Genesis 2:7, 22

In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, we’re told that, Two are better than one…

Three strands of rope are harder to break.

The importance of community is as evident now as ever, after this past year. The value of online masterminds and the connections I’ve made through the virtual groups has been amazing. Not to mention the connection of my family and my church.

Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches in John 15:1-8. Whatever vine the branches are connected to will determine what kind of fruit the branches will produce. He also says that if we aren’t bearing fruit, we will be cut of and thrown into the fire.

The clearer we are about what our mission is and the better connection to the vine, the better the fruit will be.

Get connected to the Vine and to other good branches and produce good fruit.