How frustrated Satan must be when we circumvent normalcy.  He pushes against our certainties with fear and doubt, but the very forces he uses to break us are employed by God to make us stronger.  Without fear we would not cling tighter. Without doubt we would not dig deeper.  Satan must think, “It isn’t normal, I’ll tell you!  These people are nuts!”  Are we fools to remain faithful?  No!  We would be fools to deny the One who is faithful in everything and able to keep us close by His side to the very end.

A few years ago our daughter told us she was going to be moving out of her college dorm to live with some friends in an apartment.  The apartment wasn’t in the best part of town.  In truth, it was in a refurbished drug house in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods around.  The house had a downstairs living room where our daughter and her friends nurtured relationships with neighborhood children.  They played games, baked cookies and sometimes cried together when life fell apart.  There were murders, shootings, dog attacks and other frightening experiences I was thankful I didn’t know about at the moment they were occurring.  But there was also grace and love.  God showed our daughter how His power is seen best in human weakness.

A few people told my wife and me we were crazy for letting our daughter live in such a risky situation.  We usually answered, “She’s over eighteen.  She can do what she wants.”  But inside we were proud and envious.  We were proud because she was doing something important for Jesus and envious because there is no better place to know God than on the front lines of spiritual warfare.

How is God’s power seen in your weakness?  Does anything you do for God make other people think you are crazy?

Dear God, put me in a place where your grace and love are evident.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.