“Tigress: It is said that the Dragon Warrior can survive for months at a time on nothing but the dew of a single ginko leaf and the energy of the universe.
Po: I guess my body doesn’t know I’m the Dragon Warrior yet. Gonna take a lot more than dew, and universe… juice.”

“Is God’s grace enough?”
A friend asked this recently in a group discussion, and hand-on-my-heart, honest-to-God, this scene from Kung Fu Panda was my response.
Paul writes about his own struggles (the thorn in his side) and of his hearing  God’s assuring voice, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
Jesus went into the desert and was tempted to turn a stone into bread. His response? “Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word from God.”

That’s all well and good, but I guess my body doesn’t know it’s the Dragon Warrior yet.

Sometimes we may find it easy to get discouraged on our journey, especially in our faith. Healing doesn’t come; breakthrough always seems just out of reach; we (or those we love) seem to constantly be in the midst of pain and suffering. Or maybe it just seems like others are getting and we are not.

Two things to be cautious of: 1) covetousness, and B: idolatry.  Focusing on your neighbor’s blessing takes your eyes off your own, and will cause you to miss out on what God has in store for you. Idols are made when we begin to form our identities on the basis of our pain; it defines every aspect of our lives and becomes the lens through which we view everything else. It is nothing more than a lie about a false identity.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians carried encouragement and hope. He writes, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (1:18-19 NIV) His reminder to the church not only brings a message of hope, but also of identity and power, and reminds us that all these are available to ALL believers.  He even let’s us know that it’s OK if we’re not quite seeing them yet: “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory.” (1:13-14 NIV)

I know that sometimes it can be difficult to hold hope and faith when we don’t see immediate results, but by His very nature God cannot break His promises, and He has promised much to His children. You are who He says you are, Dragon Warrior.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded.