When Ty was in the NICU 20 months ago, our little boy was fighting for his life. Many days we did not know if he would survive and if he did survive, how well would he survive? On one particularly hard day, Ty???s neonatologist, Dr. Watercotte, came into the pod and handed me a sign to put above Ty???s isolette. It read:

???God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” (From Power of the Powerless by Christopher De Vinck.)???.

That quote spoke to my heart. It did not promise healing for my son but it did remind me that God uses broken vessels to get His glory. God loves to take the broken things of the world and make them whole. He alone gets glory for that. I didn???t know at that time if God???s choice would be healing and restoration for Ty but I did know that God???s light would shine through the circumstances somehow because God does use the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

Christopher De Vinck does not get credit for this statement though and I assume that Ty???s Dr. knew that when he handed me the quote. The apostle Paul penned the heart of this quote in the book of 1 Corinthians.

1Co 1:27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 1Co 1:28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 1Co 1:29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Isn???t that a beautiful and powerful verse? I heard once that a cracked pot is one that allows the light to shine through. Often times we feel like we can???t ???live up???, we aren???t ???enough??? ???and truthfully, we aren???t. Speaking for myself only, yes, I am just a ragamuffin person who needs grace desperately and am nothing but a broken vessel.

How awesome it is though that Jesus makes us perfect in His strength through our weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9 say???s:

But 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I was talking to my Sunday School class about this subject this morning and than my brother Daniel used a funny ???Noah Story??? in Church that helps illustrate the point.

This weekend Brooke went to a ???horse camp???. Remember, all 3 of my SILs are former Rodeo Queen???s and they love horseback riding.

Daniel was alone with two little munchkins! Daniel needed to do something to entertain the boys on Saturday so he decided to take Noah and Graham on a little day fishing trip. Papa was in the right place at the right time and he went along as well.

Like any good grandpa, Papa was catching fish and then before reeling them in, would hand the pole to Noah so that Noah could claim the victory. Papa and Noah were having a great time!

Daniel, on the other hand was not so successful and was having trouble catching anything.

After Noah had several successes and his daddy had none, Noah made a serious and practical suggestion to Daniel.

???Daddy, why don???t you let Papa hand you the pole???? LOL!!!!!

I know exactly what look Daniel would have made hearing that comment. This one:

Noah was correct. If Papa caught the fish and then handed the pole to Daniel, he WOULD have been able to reel one in ??? but Daniel in his heart wouldn???t have been able to boast about it because unlike Noah ??? Daniel knew who really caught that fish.

Get where I am going with this?

God provides our strength. He is the author and perfector of our faith. Like Papa and little Noah, he wants it to be natural to us to rely on Him to do what we cannot do on our own, and then join Him in that process. As we mature in our faith, we know who provided the strength and we know that our victories belong to Him ??? He who works through the weak to confound the mighty. I hope that as I mature, I can be like Noah. Noah knew the surest way to catch a fish was to get the pole from Papa. There are so many life lessons in that and I hope I carry that mental picture with me always.

About 3000 years ago, there was a little shepherd boy who was the least of his clan ??? the baby brother. God chose him for greatness.

There was a giant who had known nothing but success ??? brutal success. He was strong and mighty and powerful and in the end ??? he died. He was taken out by the little shepherd boy???s sling shot. Rock hit dead center on his forehead and ended his life in an instant.

The little shepherd boy? He became the King of Israel.

You know why? That little shepherd boy knew how to ask his ???Papa??? to hand him the pole.