Soul Snack 8/21 ... Ambitions vs Capabilities


"This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word". Isaiah 66:2

Enticing silence had now returned to this beautiful and remote region.


Meandering through the cool darkness in the depths of the canyon was a now gentle water course. Only days before, it had been a raging torrent, a playground to the brave and the fool hardy alike.

Littered across the now slowly drying riverbed were shards of fibreglass. Undeniable markers to the failed valiant endeavours of thrill seeking canoeists.

Curiously, floodwaters can be as enticing as they are deadly. Three adventure seekers had sought high experience only a few days previously. Their skills almost equal to their confidence. Their ambition never assailed by reason.

High skills mixed with high motivation can be a deceitful trap. So often ambition exceeds capabilities.

Certainly, their ill considered adventure would lead to carnage. Their olympian skills still no match for this untameable torrent. Their boats destroyed unnecessarily, their lives preserved mercifully. Painfully and sadly three broken and bruised spirits hiked out of the canyon to safety.

An unshakable pride and impregnable confidence God can and will humble. His voice can be clearest in my failure, in my imposed and necessary humility.

Broken boats are replaced by the owner, broken spirits are repaired by God, my owner. Only then will my ambitions accurately read my capabilities.