Ok. Hate may be a strong word. And… who could really hate Thomas the Train. After all, he’s a cute train. I mean, he smiles all the time.
So, fine. Maybe I don’t really hate Thomas. But, I’m not a fan of his message… “I think I can. I think I can. I think I ca…” The message, “If you put your mind to it, you can do anything” sucks. Right now, I’m putting my mind into being a 2nd baseman for the Chicago Cubs. But it ain’t gonna happen… no matter how hard I try. The, “I think I can” method just won’t work here.
There’s another place where it won’t work either… my parenting. I try to be patient. I try to be loving. I try to be gentle. I try to be kind. I try and I try because I think I can. I think I can. But too many times… I can’t.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
There’s a reason why it’s not called, “The fruit of Todd Ruth.” Because I can’t… not apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. Not apart from God. If I’m simply trying to be these things by myself, (a great parent, a great husband, a great friend, a great brother, a good son) it’s just not gonna happen. There’s a reason why Jesus asked God to send a Helper (John 14:16)… because we can’t live life how it’s designed to be lived without help!
God knows that we can’t be the parent our kids need us to be by our own power. He knows we’ll fail over and over again. It’s ok to fail. But it’s not ok to stay in your failure. So, instead of being so frustrated with trying so hard and failing, I’m resting in the fact that Jesus not only sent me a Helper, and you should too. He has also sent each other as helpers to help each other as well.
It’s not, “I think I can, I think I can…” It’s, God can.
