When Ethan was a little tyke, around 2-3, he wanted to do whatever we were doing, but he wanted to do it HIMSELF.  One morning Wes was getting ready to mix our frozen concentrate orange juice with water.  Ethan has seen him do this numerous times before, so he declared, “I do it.”  Wes thought to himself that there was no way that this little one had the capacity to pull off this feat.  But he slid the step stool over and handed Ethan control over the large wooden spoon to stir.  Ethan tried for several minutes to move the spoon to make the frozen mass break apart but failed.  Realizing that he had insufficient strength Ethan released the spoon, climbed down the step stool, and said dolefully, “I can’t, Daddy do it.”  Wes (being an awesome father) said, “Come back up here, buddy.”  Ethan was reluctant to climb back up, but with Wes’ encouragement he obeyed. Wes had Ethan hold the spoon, then Wes clasped his hands on top of Ethan’s hands.  Together they stirred the concentrate into orange juice.  Ethan was exuberant as he proclaimed, “I did it!”

Now you might be wondering why I took the time to relate this cute little childhood story. But this story is one of my favorite illustrations that Wes will sometimes use while teaching the stages of spiritual growth.  In the beginning we want to help our heavenly Father!  We love Him and want to be of help and service to Him.  Does He need our help? Nope. We actually tend to get in the way and want to do it in our own strength.  He lets us climb up to the counter and we give it our best go.  Undeniably, our own strength in the flesh is completely insufficient and hopefully we reach a point of declaring that in our own strength we can do nothing! “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, emphasis mine)  At this junction we might want to hop off the stool and walk away in defeat.  But God has a better plan.  He allowed us to experience failure so we would embrace something far better!   We are now in a position to receive His method for our life.  We can allow Him to be the strength in which we now live and serve.  Together with Father we can do things that we thought we were incapable of doing before!   “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13)  Again John 15:5, “…he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit…” We are the ones bearing the fruit.  Ethan’s declared of, “I did it!” made his father’s heart proud. “I can” isn’t a declaration of independence but of discovery of owning that we do it with our Father’s strength. Together.  Abiding.