Lent is a time I often think about choices... choosing to give up or take on "something" as a way to draw nearer to God over this 40 day journey.
That got me thinking about the quote at the top of the blog, Dumbledore's sage words to Harry in The Chamber of Secrets, about choices (and abilities):
It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
It sounds just a little different when presented in the movie, you can find the clip below on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBZKnKEElg&feature=related
One of my favorite quotes from the series, the truth of those words are lived out by Harry and his friends over and over in the books that follow Chamber.
They are also lived out over and over again in our story of faith, the Bible. A few examples:
Moses chooses to go to Pharoah and speak on behalf of God for the freedom of the Israelites, though he has long conversations with God about not having the ability to do it (Exodus 3-4)
Jeremiah chooses to speak for God, though he belives he doesn't have the ability because he is too young (Jeremiah 1)
James and John, sons of Zebedee, choose to follow Jesus, though their abilities are far more suited to work as fishermen (Mark 1)
These are just some of the choices of some of the people in the Bible, I could go on and on, to say nothing of who God chooses... but that's an entire post on it's own!
Each one listed above, including Harry, made choices that challenged them to go beyond what they thought were their abilities... and each rose to the challenge. Which in turn, effected their ability to do what was asked. Inevitably, these choices also find people meeting God along the way.
When have your choices taken you beyond what you thought were your abilities? How did you meet God there?
