Are you the Weakest Link? by Theresa Zuber

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. But, it seems that God oftentimes uses the weakest, most unlikely people, to accomplish his work.

Take Gideon (Judges 6 & 7) who declared himself the least man from the weakest clan, yet God used him. Gideon found it hard to believe so he asked God to give him a sign. Then, he asked for more signs – not that he didn’t trust God- but he had no confidence in his abilities to lead God’s people. Could he possibly understand God correctly? Was he completely bonkers???

Gideon is not the only one who had trouble believing God could use him. Moses argued with God that he was “slow to speak”. Did you get that? He said he wasn’t able to speak to Pharaoh, but he had no problem arguing with the most High God.

Other times God has used unlikely people: Rahab the prostitute (Josh 2), David the young shepherd boy (1 Sam 16), Joseph the dreamer (Gen 37-41), Matthew the tax collector (Matt 9), Zaccheus the “wee little man” (Luke 19), and Peter, who denied Christ three times. (Mark 14)

1 Cor 1:26-27 “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

Our society places great importance on being self-confident and believing that you can do great things. Yet God seems to use those people who have emptied themselves out so that there is room for Him. Suddenly, being a link that God can use for His purposes seems much more important than fitting in with the rest of the world.

2 Cor 12: 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

My Chains are Gone by Susan Shull

We sing a song at church that brings tears to my eyes every time. The chorus goes like this…….

“My chains are gone.
I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior has ransomed me.
And like a flood, his mercy rains,
unending love, amazing grace.”

Besides the obvious reasons, I think this song touches me so profoundly because I have struggled so with the balance of do’s and don’ts of the Christian life. When Brad and I first got married, we knew we wanted to make church a huge part of our lives. We both loved the Lord, so that wasn’t a problem. The problem was….where do we worship? We tried different congregations in Charleston, Mattoon, and in Ohio when we lived there. I was totally happy in some of them. Brad wasn’t. He was happy. I wasn’t. We argued more about this issue than about anything else. (Wasn't that the “Christian” thing to do? Ha!) A lot of the difficulty boiled down to a congregation’s philosophy of freedom as a Christian. Do we have any, or are we to follow a prescribed lists of “thou shalls” and “shall nots”? Did being a Christian mean we had to be weirdos, or just different from the world? We truly wanted to do the right thing, to be in God’s will. But what was it?

We finally decided to quit listening to well-meaning people around us and go to the source. We had to make our faith our own and do what we felt the Bible was teaching us and not follow the words of men. The great legalists of the Bible, the Pharisees, thought they had all the answers for every man, but Jesus set them straight, didn’t he?

I personally began to study the book of Galatians where I began to discover that true freedom can come only through Christ. I truly started to accept the idea that living one’s life for God gives us our freedom. It doesn’t take it away from us. Brad did his own studying and God eventually led us to the congregation at Scott Avenue. The journey wasn’t easy but was definitely worth it.

God continues to remind me of this freedom since I ironically find myself being a little bit like a Pharisee towards others at times. My latest reminder came this week. This summer, I have been studying Christianity 101, the book Rachel Willis has been using in her Wednesday night group. This author states that there are really only a few commandments in the New Testament and most of them involve loving God, your neighbor, and your enemies. Keeping those should keep me busy for the next 100 years or so.

There are also some guidelines: Avoid things that aren’t beneficial or positive. Don’t do things that are addictive to you. Consider the effect your actions may have on others. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? What a world this would be if we all followed these commandments and guidelines! Kind of sounds like heaven.

So, the next time someone says that Christianity is all about rules and regulations, just remember that is Satan’s old trick. The only way to be truly free is by the “blood of the Lamb.” To borrow a phrase from our preacher……..And all God’s people said, Amen!