SUPERPOWERS

Photo courtesy of Amanda Hebble

Lisa stood at the free throw line. They were down by one. The crowd held it's breath as she began to bounce the ball slowly, her eyes focused on the rim. She knew if the ball went in, her team would win the game.
Most of us would choose that time to pray. Lisa did. I know I would. I would pray something like,  
"Please God, let me make it. If you let me make it I promise I won't play on my phone in church any more. I won't cuss for two weeks. I'll clean my room."
But not Lisa. Lisa craved this kind of competition. She was a fighter. She threw free-throws in her sleep. Her prayer went something like this,
"Hey God. I've got this one. It's going in. But that math test tomorrow? Yeah, I could use some help with that. So watch this, God. Watch this one go in."

Lisa told her story at Fight Night on Monday. Did you catch it? This particular part of her story got in my face. The truth is, I've lived this story over and over a thousand times. Oh, it doesn't involve a basketball, but this scene has played out so many times in my life it's embarrassing.

How many times have I completed awesome projects on my own that were totally within my comfort zone? How many times have I agreed to only do things I was good at? How many times have I avoided things that would be a complete flop if God didn't show up?

Do you believe in superpowers? I do. Well, not the invisible, flying, Lasso of Truth kind of superpowers. (Although....when I was little I used to move stuff with my mind and talk to animals. But that's a different counseling session...er....blog.)

Anyway, I believe each one of us has a 'superpower' of sorts. Actually we all have more than one. These are the things we can do pretty dangdang good on our own, and we do them often. We use our superpower to serve God, to serve others, to serve ourselves.

But our weaknesses? Nah. We hide those. We're embarrassed by our weaknesses. Annoyed by them. We read self-help books and blogs to help us overcome them. We whisper asinine prayers under our breathe as we try to navigate them. They're not only useless, but weakness drags us down. And besides, God gave us superpowers for a reason, right? We shouldn't focus on weakness. We shouldn't even tolerate weakness having any influence in our lives at all.

Wait.

"...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." 2 Cor 12:9

REALLY?

What if God can use weakness in ways he could never use strength? Or even better, what if he uses our weaknesses along side our strengths to complete his good and perfect will?

I know what you're thinking....stop talking, Jenna, and tell me if Lisa's shot went in for cryin out loud.

You know what? It did. Lisa's shot went in that day. Her team won the game. But years later, that's not the part of the story that stirred our hearts on Monday night.

God used Lisa's supercrazymadfreethrowing skills (her strength) to create a foundation for a friendship that spanned several years. God used some injuries (her weakness) to set the stage for her faith to shine. And years later, she was able to influence and show Jesus to a friend who desperately needed it. (Watch the Fearless Experiment Blog for Lisa's podcast---you can hear the whole story.)

My point is this: Use your strengths for the Kingdom. But don't count out your weakness. God's word says his strength is made PERFECT in your weakness, so step out and trust Him. Trust in His word. You might just find out your weakness is a superpower.


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