ABLE

I can hear my two-year old telling me, "I can do it"!  I remember stepping back and letting her "do it" her way.  I also remember the baby years when she could not do anything for herself and I was her source for everything.  Her food, her water, her comfort, her protector, her playmate, her soulmate.

This is the natural world.  We are born vulnerable and needy and grow to be able to care for ourselves.

And then perhaps we take it to another level.  A level that says to people, I don't need your help for I can rely on my own ability.  I know what I need.  I know how to help myself.  I'm able.  I'm capable.  

What a trap for me when I wander into the desert of me of my ability.  What a danger for me to think my own ability will get me through this life.  What a temptation to rely on myself and the power I have in my tiny home kingdom called life.  I can sit at the top of my world and have a false sense of control.

Are we trusting ourselves?  Are we trusting in our abilities...the 'I can do it' moments?  Is our ability to succeed and trust in that ability what meets us in the desert? Are we able to return to Him for direction, for comfort, for our success, as our soulmate?

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, 

to the highest point of the Temple, and said,“If you are the Son of God, jump off! 

For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.

And they will hold you up with their hands

    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”Matthew 4:5-6