One of my favorite superheroes is the Green Lantern. I’m also partial to the Green Arrow and the Green Hornet, so maybe I need my superheroes/crime fighters smartly dressed in green.
What I think I loved most about the Green Lantern when I was a kid was his power ring, this green ring that could create just about anything the Green Lantern needed to defeat the powers of evil.
As an adult, I think what I love the most about the Green Lantern is how human he seems compared to the likes of Superman. You see, unlike Superman and Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern doesn’t have unlimited power. His power comes from the ring and if he overextends himself, the ring’s power is drained and the Green Lantern is left defenseless.
We may not have power rings like the Green Lantern, but we are at frequent risk of overextending ourselves and draining ourselves to such a point it’s sometimes difficult to get up in the morning.
Like the Green Lantern, we either have to watch carefully to make sure we don’t burn out, or if we do, we have to find a way to recharge ourselves spiritually and emotionally.
In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes, “He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply.”
Lately, I have felt exhausted and weary and even though I was praying to God every day for strength, I realized the other day that I had forgotten the very thing that Chambers says is so important.
God is my strength. When I am in need, I have to do more than just pray. I have to surround myself with God and reminders of who I am in His eyes.
Last Sunday, a friend of mine gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble. She wanted me to buy a specific book. I found it pretty easily in the Christian section of the store, and after I found it, I could have just taken the book up to the counter, paid for it and left, but I had money left over on the card and I decided to linger in the Christian books a little longer.
And the longer I stayed there, the more I wanted to stay there. The more books I looked at, the more I realized how hungry I was, how starving I was, for spiritual food. As I read, I could feel God inside of me, beginning to work on repairs, knitting me back together again.
That is who God is. In Psalm 139, in verses 13 and 15, God is referred to as a weaver. He knits us together. We are “woven” by His hands.
God is the creator. And we are works in progress. But we have to turn to Him, especially in times of trial, to let Him finish, to let Him continue what He has started.
No power rings are necessary.
Just surrender and long, deep breaths.
