"My Strength or His Spirit?"

I heard this story many years ago. It is one that sticks with me because I think I relate to it pretty well.

A father asked his son to move a large rock in their yard. The boy was determined to do it. He ran to the rock and pushed and shoved with all his might. The rock did not budge so he pushed all harder...his muscles straining and sweat forming on his forehead. His father was watching and said, "Your not using all your strength." The boy said nothing. He just pushed all the harder. Again, the father said, "You're not using all your strength." The boy pushed even harder but still did not budge the rock an inch. Again the father said, "Your not using all your strength." Finally, the exasperated boy shouted back, "I am too. I am using all my strength but I cannot move it." To which the father replied, "No. You're not using all your strength because you have not asked me to help."

This morning, God put Zechariah 4:6 in my face, "Not by might nor by power, but by my
Spirit, " says the Lord Almighty.

I don't know about you but I am guilty of pushing and straining and sweating to try to make rocks move and getting no where. Over and over again, I have to relearn the old lesson that I am not using all my strength until I stop depending solely on mine and ask God to add in his. In my might and power I can see what I can do, but I am increasingly hungry to see what God's spirit could do if I would depend less on myself and more on him.

God, forgive me and God help me.