The "What God Can Do" Index

Who doesn't love a challenge? Crossword puzzles, obstacle courses, Calculus, weight loss goals, memorizing entire portions of Scripture, living on a budget. Challenges can cause us to explore and tap into the potential of the human body, hopefully making us better humans. There is one such challenge that I face regularly and am having great difficulty appreciating, much less meeting. I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, but returning to sleep once something has awakened me...hardly ever. Therein lies my challenge, my nemesis, the Moriarty to my Holmes. I don't worry. I don't fret. But in the wee hours of the morning, I create. One tiny trip to the bathroom and my brain is fully engaged, locked in "How'bout-this?" mode. On one such occasion this idea occurred to me: 

Create a log of amazing things God can do! 

"What are you talking about?" the still slightly sleepy part of my brain replied. (Usually the parietal lobe; she's late to most of the frontal lobe's soirees.) 

I mean, write an article --not really an article, more like a catalog-- of resources, accounts from people who have received deliverance and been victorious over their challenges like addiction and homelessness. A What God Can Do Index!

So, now that we're fully awake and all of the guests are at the party (as much as possible, anyway), I thought I'd share this list with you as a resource, a What God Can Do Index, as told by those for whom He has done it.

▷God can conquer addiction: 

    Evangelist | Julie Seals "Julie Seals is an Ordained https://www.julieseals.com/ with the Pen-Florida District Assemblies of God. She has overcome Spina Bifida, a 17-year addiction to crystal methamphetamine, the amputation of her left leg, and a life sentence in federal prison to share her relentless passion for seeing people SET FREE from darkness to boldly live out the call of God upon their lives!" Her book will be out soon!

▷God can conquer unforgiveness: 

    Amazing Love: True Stories of the Power of Forgiveness. In short, "Cornelia Arnolda Johanna 'Corrie' ten Boom (April 15, 1892 – April 15, 1983) was a Holocaust survivor who started a rehabilitation center for concentration camp survivors as well as a global ministry to preach the power of forgiveness." [from Biography of Corrie ten Boom, Hero of the Holocaust (learnreligions.com)]

▷God can conquer suffering: 

    Joni Eareckson Tada has an amazing story, from a paralyzing injury to cancer to the same things we all endure in the day to day, but in her book A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's Sovereignty, Joni deals specifically with issues that can lead us to despair and to question the goodness of God. 

    In this category, I also include Philip Yancey's A Companion in Crisis: A Modern Paraphrase of John Donne's Devotions. During the pandemic Yancey looked to a text written by John Donne as he experienced life and eventually the threat of death during The Great Plague in London.

▷God can conquer "impossible" circumstances: 

    Bethany Hamilton, attacked by a shark while surfing, tells her story in Soul Surfer. 

    Nick Vujicic, born without arms or legs, founded Life Without Limbs, "an international non-profit ministry whose purpose is to saturate the world with the Gospel and unite the body of Christ through the life and testimony of Nick Vujicic." (as stated on their website). 

    Elisabeth Elliot lost her husband to tribesmen in Ecuador, but gained a ministry like no other. Her story and the story of her husband, Jim's martyr can be found in three wonderful books: Shadow of the Almighty, Through the Gates of Splendor, and The Savage My Kinsman. 

    And a personal fave: A Matter of Faith: Surviving Life’s Crises with Four Wheels, Four Paws, and a Loving God, by Joan Patterson.

▷God can turn the heart of a self-made man to become God's man:

    Born Again. From Prison Fellowship's website: "Charles “Chuck” Colson, President Richard M. Nixon's White House counsel and hatchet man, served time in a federal prison camp for a Watergate-related crime. After his incarceration, Chuck felt led by God to honor a promise he made to remember his fellow prisoners and their families. That promise grew into Prison Fellowship® and the world's largest family of prison ministries."

▷God can transform gang leaders into Christ followers:

    About Nicky Cruz Outreach and the book that tells his story, Run, Baby, Run.

▷God can enlighten an atheist:

    About — Lee Strobel and his story in The Case for Grace. 

    C.S. Lewis was raised in a religious home, but by the age of 13 had renounced Christianity. In his early 30s, Lewis, after much critical thought made a decision to follow after Christ and became one of the greatest authors and apologists of his time. A 2021 movie, The Most Reluctant Convert, is an excellent telling of his story.

This is such a small example of what God can do, but I hope the resources on this list inspire you and perhaps, challenge you to share your story with others. God walks us through these places as a means to encourage others, strengthen us, and bring glory to Himself. Be blessed today!

You Won't Be Smelling Any Carrots in Here

The Book of Proverbs...aaaand GO! It seems to be one of those books you can't get enough of, or you've had enough without really having much. I'm currently focusing on Solomon's second chapter in this letter to generations. It begins with these words:

My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.    (2:1-5)

Do you hear it? If...then... I heard that for much of my life. Whether it was the way things were communicated, or the toxic relationships in which I remained, or the perversion of truth and my reluctance to seek correction, I heard a lot of "If...then..." rhetoric. If you cover for me, then I will cover for you. If you do this, then I will know you really love me. If you do this, then I will really love you. To clarify, there is an element of "If...then..." to our human relationships. It's how we begin to understand justice and social proprieties. We are taught from an early age that if we are nice, then people will be nice to us; if we share our toys, then people will share with us; if we are well-behaved, then we will get a reward. In a perfect world, these may all be true, but I've never met anyone who has spent even a moment in a perfect world. More often than not, "If...then..." serves as a means of manipulation, a way one dangles a carrot before someone in order to get them to do what the carrot farmer desires. 

But that's not God's idea of "If...then..." at all. The One who holds the future in His hands, the One who created all things, the One who knows our innermost thoughts even before we do, the only One who would have the authority to use "If...then..." for His purposes exclusively, is the One who never has and never will --at least, not in the corrupted sense with which humanity uses it.

The "If...then.." of God, the one Solomon explains for us here in Proverbs 2, is one that has more to do with natural consequences than some divine quid pro quo. If you grasp what I'm saying, if you give these things the esteem they deserve, if you strain your ears to catch every word and take copious notes, if you apply what you are learning and ask for understanding, if you are ravenous to gain more, if you read until your eyes are weary and dig until your back is sore, if you would sell all you had to gain more wisdom, then you will have all you need. Sadly, the converse is true as well: if you don't seek wisdom, if you don't seek to know God, then you won't have what you need. Not because God is withholding those things --Jesus came that all might have abundant life-- but because we are not positioned to receive them: inclining our ears, eyes open, pen in hand, the pages of our Bibles worn, Scripture swirling through our brains and flowing from our mouths, knees worn from petitioning the Lord, attending church faithfully and serving the body, applying what we have learned, laying down our lives.

So, if you're hearing "favor for favor" or getting a whiff of carrot, read it again. Proverbs is full of the wisdom of God, She cries out that all might hear and heed her words. A reward awaits, but not because we have been well-behaved, but because we have given our all to the search, and we are well-loved.