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A Ability
"Knowing what you can not do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that's good taste."
Lucille Ball (1911-89), U.S. actor, producer. Quoted in: Eleanor Harris, The Real Story of Lucille Ball, ch. 1 (1954).
For a believer, it is important to know that God can do what we cannot.
Source: The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations—in Microsoft Bookshelf '98
From a "Blondie" daily comic strip:
_______
Blondie: Honey, Could you fix this heel on my shoe?
Dagwood: I don't think so. I don't have the right tools.
Blondie: With all the equipment you have in your workshop, you can't fix my shoe?
Dagwood: No … but I could make you a table in the SHAPE of a shoe...
_______
It is good to know that, whatever job God calls us to do, He will pre-equip us with the correct tools for the job.
Source: "Blondie," 8/10/98.
Topics/Tags: Ability; Work; Gifts from god, spiritual
There was once a one-armed farmer who was well-known for his beautiful penmanship. His handwriting flowed in a graceful, left-handed script. His talent was highly sought-after for important papers such as marriage licenses and baptismal certificates.
Once an admirer commented, "It sure is fortunate that you didn't lose your good arm."
The man replied, "Oh, but I did! Before my accident, I was right-handed—and my handwriting was terrible. After the accident, I figured that, since I was going to have to learn how to write all over again anyway, I might as well learn how to do it better."
Through difficulty and diligence, that farmer transformed a mediocre ability into a matchless talent. How might God transform our abilities—and, yes, even our handicaps—into tremendous talents, if we will simply be willing to pay the price of surrendering to Him?
Source: C.W. Bess. "Proclaim," 1980 #2, pp. 33-34.
Topics/Tags: Gifts from god, spiritual; Ability; Handicaps
"With God working through me, I can do anything God can do."
— Henry Blackaby
Source: Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God: Knowing & Doing the Will of God (Workbook), p. 19.
Topics/Tags: Ability; Surrender; Spiritual Power; God, power of
PRAIRIE CHICKEN EAGLE
An Indian brave found an egg that had been laid by an eagle. Not being able to return the egg to an eagle's nest, the next best thing to do was to put it in the nest of a prairie chicken. The result was predictable. The hen sat on this eagle's egg, along with her own eggs, knowing nothing of the addition.
By and by the little eaglet was hatched alongside the prairie chickens. All his life, the changeling eagle, thinking he was a prairie chicken, did what the prairie chickens did. He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. He clucked and cackled. And he flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that's how prairie chickens were supposed to fly.
Years passed. And the changeling eagle grew very old. One day, he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings. "What a beautiful bird!" said the...eagle to his neighbor. "What is it?"
"That's an eagle--the chief of the birds," the neighbor clucked. "But don't give it a second thought. You could never be like him." So the changeling eagle never gave it another thought. And it died thinking it was a prairie chicken.
_________
God's expectations for your life may be a lot higher than you are willing to believe…
Source: page 283 Living on the Ragged Edge by Charles Swindoll (taken from the Pursuit of Excellence by Ted W Engstrom)
Topics/Tags: Success; Expectations; Ability
A minister visited a rural family for supper and they ate before church.
He explained, "I can't eat. Whenever I eat before preaching, it ruins the message. If I want to bring a good message, then I'd better not eat."
After supper, the wife asked the husband to go on to the service with the minister while she washed the dishes and then worked in the nursery.
When the husband returned, she asked him how the service went. "Well, to tell you the truth, he might as well have eaten…"
- Unknown
Source: PULPIT HELPS, Sept., 1990
A pastor was pulled over on the highway by a state trooper. The policeman prepared to write the minister a speeding ticket.
The driver pleaded, "Please don't, officer--I'm just a poor preacher."
The trooper replied, "Yes, I know. I've heard you preach."
Source: unknown
Scott Blue didn't walk across the platform to receive his degree during the December 1998 commencement service at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Instead, he stood head and shoulders above his peers as he rolled his wheelchair down the aisle of the auditorium to receive his Master of Divinity degree.
Before graduating, Blue--a paraplegic from a car accident--garnered several other recognitions during his studies at Southern, including the "Outstanding Graduate" honor and a first-place award in the seminary's annual Clyde T. Francisco Preaching Award.
In an article in "The Tie," Norman Miller notes: "Blue is not known for his disability--he's known for his abilities."
Which are you focusing on: your disabilities or your abilities?
Source: "The Tie" supplement, 3/1999, p. 16.
Topics/Tags: Ability; Success; Disability; Injury
Did you know…?
- After Fred Astaire's first screen test, the MGM testing director dictated a memo that read: "Can't act! Slightly bald! Can dance a little!" Astaire would eventually obtain a copy of that harsh evaluation, and hang it over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.
- A football expert studied Vince Lombardi's coaching and made this observation: "He possesses minimal football knowledge. Lacks motivation." So much for experts!
- Socrates was charged with being an "immoral corrupter of youth."
- Book publishers gave Norman Vincent Peale less-than-promising feedback on his writing ability.
- Einstein was criticized for not wearing socks or cutting his hair.
Human assessment of God-given abilities is often seriously flawed. Don't let criticism deter you from utilizing the talents which God has given you!
Source: "Speaker's Sourcebook 2" (Prentice Hall), p. 2.
Tom Dempsey was born without toes on his right foot. Thankfully, though, he grew up in a home environment with parents who never placed limitations on him because of his physical disability. He learned to use what he did have rather than making excuses for what he didn't have.
Tom Dempsey eventually became a place-kicker in the National Football League. Playing for the New Orleans Saints, he became a very recognizable figure in the League because of the strange, stubby shoe he wore on his half-sized right foot.
On November 8, 1970, though, Dempsey became well-known for another reason: In a game against the Detroit Lions, he secured victory for the Saints on the game's final play by kicking a 63-yard field goal--a feat which stood for 28 years as the longest field goal in the league's history.
In October 1998, the Denver Broncos' Jason Elam (who, by the way, has a full complement of toes on both feet!) tied Dempsey's mark with a 63-yarder of his own, but to this day no one has kicked one longer than "poor, disabled Tom Dempsey."
Source: nfl.com; "Speaker's Sourcebook 2" (Prentice Hall)
Topics/Tags: Sports; Ability; Determination; Disabilities
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