Monday, December 17, 2007

Super heroics

When someone has been given much, much will be required in return (Luke 12:43).

People have always been fascinated with characters that are larger than life. In the ancient world, folks living along the Mediterranean wished they could be as clever as Ulysses. During the Middle Ages, people of northern Europe dreamed about being as brave as Beowulf. In our own times, many have wished they had the powers of Superman or some other comic book character.

We are drawn to the fantasy of the super hero, I think, because so much of the time we feel weak and helpless. We don’t know how to achieve our goals or how to escape a painful situation. We don’t have the power to rescue ourselves or give others the help that they so desperately need. Wouldn’t it be nice to be exceedingly clever, amazingly strong, or incredibly fast?

Perhaps you are familiar with Spider-Man. The lesson he learned through personal tragedy was this: with great power must come great responsibility. This is the teaching of Jesus; He said, When someone has been given much, much will be required in return.

The point is this. God has given each of us different skills and abilities. Some people seem to be more blessed with skill and aptitude than others. But before you start feeling jealous, consider this: that person so blessed by God has been equipped to deal with greater challenges than you will probably ever have to face. Look at Superman—he has to fight enemies that could squash lesser heroes with ease.

We don’t need to be ‘super’ to get through life; the Bible assures us that God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13). In addition, we have the assurance that God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). Sometimes God provides a way to escape evil’s attempts to harm us; other times He lends us His strength to see us through hard times. We don’t need to be super smart, super strong, or super fast, because our God will fight for us, and Jesus’ help is more than enough to save us every time.

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