you-must-be-this-tall.png.pagespeed.ce.v0WEe1iakBWhen I was the college pastor at theWELL in Escondido, I had a student in the group that got us free tickets to LegoLand. So, for my son’s third birthday, we decided to go spend the day riding roller coasters, eating funnel cake, and enjoying cities built of legos. Any kid’s dream birthday!

We were having a great time until we tried to go on one of the rides. Now, here is the thing, my son was (and still is) really short for his age. Most of the rides he wanted to go on, he was too short to get on – and they are sticklers at LegoLand (I know because I’m not above bribery). So, being the good father that I am, I MADE A WAY! We went into the bathroom and I got a stack of paper towels and put them in his shoes. It probably added about 2″ to his height which was just enough to get us on the rides he wanted to ride. You should have seen his eyes light up when he saw that he was tall enough to get on that first ride. We ended up having a great day together!

I think that is the way life often works. I don’t know about you, but there are times I feel “too short” for some of the things God allows to enter my life. When they come, it doesn’t feel like I’m going to be able to make it through – and at the onset I’m convinced that I wasn’t cut out for the journey. There are times when the pain seems overwhelming, when the hurt just doesn’t stop, and where the questions seem all-encompassing.

In the past week things with my mom’s health seems to have taken a turn for the worse. She’s not eating or drinking enough to give her enough nutrients to sustain her life. Therefore, she has found herself in the ER two times in the past week to get filled with fluids. If things don’t change soon, we are going to be left with some very difficult decisions to make. We aren’t sure what the future holds, but I’m pretty sure that I’m too short for this ride.

I’m not pretty sure I’m too short… I AM TOO SHORT FOR THIS RIDE. But, like any good, creative father would do, I sense God stuffing my shoes full of paper towels to make me tall enough to handle what he is bringing. The truth is that I’m not tall enough, but he is. The truth is that I don’t have enough power, but he does. And the truth is that he will sustain me in this situation, and any other that comes into my life.

So God, I’m banking on those paper towels in my shoes…

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. – Jude 1:24-25