A middle aged woman and I were engaged in a fairly normal conversation the other day, when she asked what I wanted to study in college. I informed her how music and theology have been my desire at the moment, but how only a short year ago, I planned on going into the Army, so change wasn’t out of the question. She seemed exuberated…She went on a tyrant (a very good tyrant..) about many people in this world propping their ladder up against the wrong building. And only once reaching the top, do they realize the mistake they’ve been making: they have been climbing up the wrong ladder. She told me one of the few things she doesn’t like about her job, is how every day she is forced to watch kids prop their ladder, in wet cement, against the wrong building. The shock factor for me was, this all came from a woman, who I’m not sure if attends church on a regular basis. This was one of the coolest analogies I’ve heard.
Is the only way to correct the mistake to slowly climb back down? What if I don’t realize the ladder I’m on until I’ve already reached the top? For most, the only way possible to start up the right ladder, is to completely back track, repent, and climb down. There have been a few though, who decided for themselves that change was imminent, and simply jumped from the top of their ladder, to the one they desired to be on. The apostle Paul is a great example of someone who decided “take the jump.” It paid off for him. In order to make that “jump of faith” it seems you must have the trust in God, that if you take the leap, and don’t quite make it, He will gently set you down, so as to be able to start the climb back up.

No matter how hard those tiny little stars try, they will never out shine the moon. They depend on themselves for their strength, and in the infinite space of the never ending sky, there’s no way they are ever going to outshine the moon. The funny thing is, the moon doesn’t even have to try to be the brightest of the bright. It depends on the sun for everything. The moon without the sun is just a dark, ugly rock up in the sky. But with help from the sun it can become a beautiful spectacle for all to see on the darkest of nights. Regardless of what the sun demands, the moon always follows through with complete obedience. Some nights, the sun chooses to keep the moon in a minimal role, some nights it takes up nearly the whole sky. But no matter how little that sliver of moon is, it’ll always shine brighter than any star in the sky. Stars work so hard, that they eventually implode and no longer exist. But the moon, it has nothing to worry about. The sun gives it everything it needs.

When I try to self-generate strength, I burn out. When I load up my schedule, and try to make it through the day on my own endurance, I consistently build frustration and rarely accomplish what I set out to do. The only way I am able to muster up the strength to go through with daily life, is by relying on Christ for my strength. A very popular verse, and one of my favorites, is Philippians 4:13. Check it out; it deals with strength.

It’s think it’s great the way celebrities are deemed “stars.” It’s the perfect correlation. They seemingly come out of no where, shine among other “stars,” and eventually they all burn out and die.