"Light Inspection"

"That Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations." (Psalms 67:2) There really needs to be a point in your life where God stretches your faith beyond your reach, beyond anything that you are capable of doing on your own. Sure, I get that He has already done that; we could never have saved ourselves, and Jesus has already delivered us from the fires of hell; but I am talking about something we are able to walk out of knowing, what just happen, that was not anything I could have done, that was all God's doing. Then again, maybe our salvation is the perfect example of what we need to examine; it might also be the only example that some of us actually get to experience; at least knowing about it happening. But I seriously doubt that God does not use each and everyone of us for some kind of work, in some way or another. The thing that we all need to realize is that we are all vessels that are made to be used for His purposes, and we are all unique; each and every one of us are all the same, but at the same time, we are all together different; each with his or her own individual contribution to God's perfect plan; whether you might realize it or not, you really do matter. Even the thief on the cross, as short as his ministry on earth was, had a powerful impact on this world, and on those that might doubt that God can't use their life, even if that life might only last a few more hours. Maybe the most powerful influence you can be to those around you, is to just hang there and smile; to just let it be known that you're not afraid, and that this is not the end, but just the beginning. I think the parting of the Red Sea is by far the best example of what that looks like. The children of Israel were pretty much trapped, death was approaching, the sea opened up, they went through it, and death was swallowed up, as they escaped in victory... "Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed God, so I spoke." We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us up with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever." (2 Corinthians 4:11-18) NLT