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“The things we know not, Teach us.
The things we have not, give us.
The things we are not, make us.”

So, I am finalizing all of the details for my latest book (a 90 segment devotional) and my wife caught a gaffe. One of the devotional thoughts is called “He fell off the toilet.” It is a great story about a kid in my youth group who injured his leg. He came down from the hotel (we were at a convention) limping. When I asked what happened, he said he had fallen off the toilet. As you can imagine, we all burst out laughing.

Turns out that he had been standing on the toilet talking to the girls in the room above him through the vent. When the shower rod he was holding onto broke, he lost his balance and injured his leg.

Ok, that is good in and of itself, but as I was working to turn a fun little story into a spiritual parable, I chose the wrong scripture. I chose Psalms 29:3-4 that reads, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters…”

My wife caught the irony. She brought it into my office yesterday thinking I had intentionally chosen that scripture because of the “water” and “thunder” references…

Needless to say there will be changes before that particular story is released into publication.

Yesterday as I was reading in my hotel room a verse jumped off the page and has been lingering ever since. I Corinthians 1:25 says, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

Read that out loud and let it sink in.

I want to remind you (as I have been reminding myself for the past 24 hours that God is in control and knows exactly what He is doing. Even though people don’t understand and even I sometimes argue with the plans I see playing out before me, I can take great confidence in Him. If I don’t understand that doesn’t make Him any less wise. If I don’t agree that doesn’t make Him any less trustworthy. God is able. He is faithful. And His ways are perfect. His wisdom is spot on and His strength is indescribable. He will not be caught off guard for He knows what is coming. And He will always be engaged in my life and yours because He is love dictates that His attention be directed at us always.

When I struggle to trust I am going to recall this scripture for I know that in it I can find courage, hope, and perspective. His ways are higher than mine, His strength unmatched, and His wisdom unparalleled. That is just the way I like it.

When it comes to artistry, there is no one who compares to God.

He placed the stars in the sky to light the heavens. He carved out the canyons and fashioned the mountains. Every kind of terrain was His idea—from mountains to valleys, rain forests to deserts. Creatively, he conjured up every animal in the earth, sea, and sky, and then brought them to life.

Everywhere you look, you can see the handiwork of the Creator. But nowhere in all of creation will you discover something or someone more calculated and exceptional than you and me.

His creative genius is on display in us.

We are the result of his brilliant design…not just our physical forms and operating systems, but the complete package comprised of our desires, qualities, feelings, capabilities, and capacities.

We are not the result of an impulsive moment of invention formed with leftover parts and tossed-away pieces.

He put great thought into us and takes great delight in us.

We are originals…one of a kind. We are not clones, duplicates, or carbon copies.

With help from the Spirit of God, we can discover and embrace the gifts hidden in this uniqueness—those things that make us special—those that give courage, strength, and the ability to radically live out our purpose.

This is an excerpt of a chapter I wrote on beginning to understand your calling. If you would like me to email you the entire chapter, send me an email and I will forward it to you. My email address is sdunn@groundwire.net.