Light on the subject
Someone has described illustrations as “opening a window and letting the light shine in” on a particular passage of scripture. Most of us who teach have encountered a late night preparation with an awareness of the need for a little more light on the subject. I hope that you have discovered the wealth of illustrations to be found on bible.org under illustrations.
Someone has described illustrations as “opening a window and letting the light shine in” on a particular passage of scripture. Most of us who teach have encountered a late night preparation with an awareness of the need for a little more light on the subject. I hope that you have discovered the wealth of illustrations to be found on bible.org under illustrations.
Last week I was teaching from Romans 11 on the importance of seeing God as God and ourselves in proper perspective and being willing to live with some tensions in things we don’t fully understand. We were knee deep in serious theology and I had just noted the truth that “God, not me, is the center of the universe.” (A friend of mine once shared that “life got a lot simpler when I realized I wasn’t the center of the universe.) I was seeking to both affirm the image of God in us yet also promote appropriate humility before a majestic God.
My search of the bible.org illustration index yielded two complementary paragraphs giving me just what I was looking for. Both drove home the point of God’s greatness and our own value. Enjoy them, and I think you’ll get a smile from the second.
The Smallness of our Greatness
Phillip Brooks made an apt comment when he said, “The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.”
Quoted in Burning Out for God, E. Skoglund, p. 11
George Washington Carver, the scientist who developed hundreds of useful products from the peanut: “When I was young, I said to God, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‘That knowledge is reserved for me alone.’ So I said, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ Then God said, ‘Well, George, that’s more nearly your size.’ And he told me.”
Adapted from Rackham Holt, George Washington Carver
Gwynne Johnson
Gwynne Johnson currently serves on the Board of Entrust, Inc., an international education and training mission where she authored the Entrust curriculum, Developing a Discerning Heart. She recently served as Co-Chair of the training project, Christian Women in Partnership, Russia and as Senior Director of Women's Ministry at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas. Gwynne has a M.A. in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. She currently lives in Huntsville, Texas with her husband of 58 years, Don. She works part-time in her daughter and granddaughter's bakery "The Best Box Ever," where she gets paid in cookies.
