Meadowlarks on Fenceposts-and How Do Weak People Do Strong Things?

Meadowlarks on fence posts aren't exactly what you picture when you think of strong things.

But they have a strong, beautiful song that can be heard for a long ways--

and they love to perch on fence posts to sing it.
So do robins.

 "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer," I read one time.

 "It sings because it has a song."
And we don't always have answers to life's perplexities, but we can still sing.

Here's excerpts from another post from desiringgod.org that really ministered to me.
Called "Take Pleasure in Your Troubles."

"Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)

 And we don't have all the answers for life's problems, and we aren't all strong people, especially when we live very simple lives out on the prairie, tending children and animals and remodeling jobs.

We do simple things like admire strange ice formations and drive down dirt roads to do chores for friends,

give spelling tests,

help children with math problems and check lessons and writing assignments when they are done,

search online for hours for the best price tickets to Papua New Guinea,

vacuum, do laundry, clean, dust, sweep, shake rugs, empty ashes, and iron,

prepare meals for fellow former missionaries in Ukraine,

Ed and Heather Durham.
What a treat to spend a long evening visiting, catching up, and listening to how God called them back to Eastern Europe after about nine years back in the States!

They are just some ordinary people, who had an ordinary family and an ordinary job

after being missionaries several years in Ukraine. 

But God is using these small, weak, ordinary people and making them strong with His grace and vision.

We listened to how God miraculously provided for them an apartment in Budapest, Hungary,

as they are working in ministries of evangelization, orphanage work, and other things.

The children kept them entertained with the baby bunnies.

And, as this post I'm copying now goes on:
"Jesus’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. His grace is sufficient. So Paul will actually brag about his afflictions because he knows they set off the power of Christ in his clay pot. In fact, and this is rather amazing, Paul takes pleasure in these things. He takes pleasure in infirmities (physical weaknesses); in reproaches (when others blame or insult him); in all kinds of needs (physical, emotional, spiritual); in persecution (when he is being arrested or beaten); and in distresses (when he needs to send an SOS).

"Take Pleasure in Your Weakness

Consider your own infirmities, ailments, weaknesses, needs, and distresses. Can you boast in these? Can you take pleasure in these? Certainly not, if you are looking to your clay pot to find strength. You will find no help there. But what if you approach this by faith? What if you begin to view each trouble as a golden opportunity to show off the glory of God? When we begin to take pleasure in our troubles for Christ’s sake, they lose their power over us."

"We are set free in Christ to watch God work.

Take your God-given weaknesses, and ask God to showcase his power and strength in them. Take your God-given infirmities and boast in them. Take pleasure in these things. Not because they are good in themselves, but because they are clay pot troubles. And when the clay pot is buffeted, more of God’s goodness and glory rests on the lowly earthen vessel. And finally, when we see that the excellence of the power is of God and not of us, our faith grows."

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/take-pleasure-in-your-troubles