Popeye Moments

Dear Friend:

Ever have one of those Popeye moments? You’re probably asking, “Elaine what are Popeye moments?”

A couple of months ago a friend told me how their youth group did a teaching with Popeye spinach. A couple of weeks later I buy a book that my Pastor wrote and it had a whole chapter entitled “Popeye moments.” Then I go looking for a Popeye cartoon in video stores and can not find it anywhere. Well, this past month I went on a Caribbean cruise and wouldn’t you know everyday on the cruise stations they have Popeye cartoons. LOL! I thought I better find some object lesson in this or I maybe seeing Popeye everywhere.

What happens next is so much fun. I go looking for the cheapest way to purchase Popeye spinach for my lesson to the young girls I teach. I am standing in the store asking “Lord how many cans I should buy?” Don’t ask me, ask God, but the number 14 comes into my head. So I buy fourteen cans. Guess how many girls came to the meeting that day. That is right, fourteen came. God is having so much fun with me.

You’re probably saying, get to the point Elaine. I am, I am. I e-mail the girls and say come to small group and you will go home stronger. No, I did not make them eat the spinach. But what I did do is look up many verses in the bible with the word strength in it. The Old Testament has the word strength 165 times and the New Testament 15 times.

As I watched the very first episode of Popeye I found out, he did not know the power of spinach. His father keeps telling him “you gots to eat your spinach.” He never listens. Popeye is strong on his own, he doesn’t need any spinach. Until the final battle with Pluto comes and Popeye is trying to save Olive Oil and the baby (sweat pea?). He is running out of strength and his father throws him a can of open spinach and Pluto not knowing about spinach, shoves it down Popeye’s throat. The crazy Popeye moment comes when he fills up with supernatural energy and wins the fight. The crazy song begins to play, “I’m Popeye the sailor man, I’m Popeye the sailor man, I’m strong to the finish because I eats my spinach I’m Popeye the sailor man (hoot hoot through his pipe comes the noise).”

David in the bible was running because he was being hunted down by Saul. David is the author of most of the Psalms and that is where the word strength appears the most in the bible. David knew where his strength needed to come from and it wasn’t spinach, it was GOD.

So the girls and I watched the end of Popeye and we began to talk about ourselves. Isn’t it just like us to get up each day and tackle the day without our spinach (GOD)? We think on our own we have enough to get through the day. We talked about what takes our strength away…..a unjust thing happens, your parents are not getting along, bad health, you don’t make the team, someone lies to you, you see injustice, you have a crabby teacher, your mom or dad are on your case, your brother or sister is driving you nuts, lack of food/water, lack of someone understanding you, false accusations, betrayal of a friend, crying from being overwhelmed and many more. How can we renew are strength. We must believe the promise of God that he will renew our strength. He is the giver of strength. We can see examples in the bible of this, but when you experience God giving you supernatural strength and you know He did it. There is nothing like God teaching you His strength, it is awesome. Meditating on the word and saying what God says “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME.” Philippians 4:13 Sometimes we just need to be saying that over and over and stop thinking about the problem but think about the God who gives promises or commands.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Courage isn’t having the strength to go on- it’s going on when you don’t have the strength.

Let’s pray: Father in heaven. Thank you for each day. Thank you that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Let me live this kind of trust out in my life. Give me strength. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Something else we discussed at the end of the lesson that I think I must end with. Sometime you see injustice in school, the workplace, grocery store, neighborhood, on the tennis court and all over. You need to pray and ask God for strength and say “should I say something or not.” When you see something wrong it takes strength to speak up. Popeye would say “I cants stands it no more” and then he would eat the spinach and fight. We need to do the same when we see things that are wrong and say “I cants stands it no more’, then pray and ask God for strength and do what is right.

I canst stands it no more, JUST GIVE ME JESUS!

Elaine