When You Think You're Finished, That's When God Starts

"What hands are too strong for you?" In this past/coming year, what hands have been/will be too strong for you? Are you in God''s hands? If so, no hands are stronger than God''s hands. The texts this week talk about God''s enduring strength and give us reasons for believing in God''s absolute ability to take care of us - come what may.

If the exponential explosion of self-help groups is any indication, it appears that we have become fascinated by and fixated on defining and exposing the weakened, painful, crippled portions of our lives. We have self-help groups for overeaters and anorexics, for abusers and the abused, for those who cannot stop going to the mall and for those who can no longer make themselves go out of the house (agoraphobia).

In short, there are literally thousands of groups eager to help us identify the pain that smarts most in our lives whether it be the anguish of a physically abusive parent or spouse or the mere fact that the family poodle died last week. Admitting to a weakness, an inability to cope, or a "personality disorder" was once anathema to the burly can-do spirit Americans consciously cultivated. Now these same admissions have become suspiciously trendy. Is there anyone out there who is not "in crisis"?

While there are numerous legitimate and beneficial uses of this new tendency, our ...