Put Your Finger Down If...: You've Ever Been Covered By God's Strength and Called to Meekness

By Michele Thompson Bordere

IS STRENGTH OVERSTATED OR OVERRATED?

Put a finger down if you have experienced unexpected protection. Put a finger down if you have been covered in your most vulnerabl

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jul 29, 2025
• ISBN: 9798895973356

Michele Thompson Bordere

Michele Bordere is a devoted mother and a youth teacher in the Church of Christ. Known for her empathy, kindness, and deep connection with others, Michele shares deeply personal stories and unique experiences to help others. Her writing reflects her trust in God, offering readers hope, encouragement, and inspiration. Michele seeks to inspire others to rest in His strength with faith and confidence. Her gifts of wisdom and discernment guide her as she shares powerful memories and narratives that helped shape her faith.

Book preview

Prologue:

The Strength of Meekness

And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Genesis 22:10-13

What do people experience when they meet you? What is their perception, usually? Do you have the demeanor of a strong, hard-fighting soldier for Christ, or are you meek and humble? Maybe you’re a little bit of both. Perhaps it depends on what season you’re currently in. Both strength and meekness have their time and place. There is a time for war and a time for peace. Some of us lean more to one side of that spectrum. As a matter of fact, most people are taught to lean toward the fighter side. But there are a few of us who dwell and flourish in meekness and peace. A person with a meek disposition is often mistaken for weak. We live in a space where everyone is encouraged to speak louder, to stand taller, to be seen, heard, and if necessary feared. But I’ve come to learn, through my own journey, that true strength doesn’t come from how loud we can be or how hard we can fight. It comes from a deep well of surrender, of yielding to something far greater than ourselves.

The meekness you see in some of us is not because we lack strength. It’s because we’ve seen what happens when we try to fight our battles on our own. Have you tried to control, fix, and change things with your own hands, only to experience what it’s like to work harder, not smarter? The humble know deep in their subconscious that God is in control; God is the fixer. God protected young Issac before he had a true understanding of what it means to be covered.

My humble disposition is a direct reflection of my respect for God’s power in my life. It’s not my strength, it never has been. It’s always been God. It was never me. The Holy Spirit moved me to share some very personal experiences as a testament to this truth.

What you’re about to read are real memories of times when I was utterly vulnerable, moments where it was clear that there was nothing I could do to save myself. And that’s where God stepped in. That’s where His strength was made perfect in my weakness.

Brace yourselves, as I have lived through experiences that, by all accounts, I shouldn’t have survived. I’m sure you have too. There were moments when I was completely helpless, alone, and exposed. But in those moments, God covered me. He sustained me. He went before me and fought battles I didn’t even know were happening. He has protected me from things that I was never ware of, things that could have destroyed me had He not been there.

So if you’re someone who feels like you have to fight tooth and nail to be respected, to be heard, to protect yourself, this is for you. But mostly, this book is for anyone who has felt that quiet nudge in their spirit to let go, to stop trying so hard, to stop striving. It’s for those who are tired of fighting and want to rest in the knowledge that God goes before them.

And in the pages that follow, I will share with you the stories that shaped me, that taught me to lean into His strength, and that revealed the beauty of letting God be the one to carry the weight.

I hope these stories touch your heart and remind you that sometimes there is an easier way to live, one that doesn’t require us to always be fighters, but instead invites us to be vessels of God’s perfect strength. Because in the end, it’s not about how hard we can fight, but about how much we can trust the One who fights for us.

Introduction

Do we really believe God is with us? Let’s review the testimony and analyze the evidence. Indulge yourself as I recall a memory of narrowly missing an encounter with Alton Coleman; the memory of the 13 ft playground slide and a fall; a moment of innocence turned into an accident: a time I was left alone on the stairwell after the bus left me. I also recall a terrifying moment when a gun was pressed to my temple, and many more.

Put A Finger Down...

Chapter One:

If You Were Carried by Grace

There are moments in life that stay with us, etched in our minds, even when we can barely understand them as children. I have one of those memories from when I was just three years old. It happened in the neighborhood park, just across the street from our home. It wasn’t a big park, just a small swing set and a tall slide. But to me, that day, it was the place where something important happened.

I remember being told to wait for my older sister and cousin before I could go. They were five and nine, and I was the youngest. But the waiting felt like forever. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I went ahead. I went to the swing, but there was no one there to push me. I remember looking around and feeling the cool breeze, just wishing someone would come so I wouldn’t be alone. But no one came. So, I walked to the slide.

It was a tall slide, at least ten feet high. It had a landing on top that didn’t have a barrier, which I now know was probably dangerous. But back then, I didn’t think about it. I climbed up the chain to the top, feeling the cold metal beneath my small hands. And when I reached the top, I stood there, looking down at the gray sand below. I wasn’t thinking about sliding. I was just standing there, alone, feeling the breeze and staring down at the ground below.

And then, something happened that I don’t fully remember. I don’t recall the fall. I don’t remember pain, or fear, or anything like that. All I remember is waking up, and lying on the sand. The first thing I saw was my sister’s face, looking down at me, her eyes wide with concern. She was trying to pick me up, but I could tell she couldn’t. She was too little to carry me, and I was hurt. I remember the strange sensation of being carried, as my sister, too small herself, wasn’t able to support me. But then I felt someone else, someone stronger, take hold of me.

That someone was a man; I think he might’ve been a stranger, or maybe an older neighbor. He carried me past the swings, through the school’s chain-link fence, across the light gray asphalt parking lot. He stopped at the curb, looked both ways and carefully crossed the four-lane street. I could feel the rhythm of his steps, and the gentleness of his hands holding me, but I couldn’t make out his face.

I didn’t feel afraid. I don’t remember being scared at all. All I remember is being carried and seeing people around me writing and drawing on my cast later on, making me feel like I was special.

For years, I thought about that moment and felt abandoned. I wondered how no one had seen me up there on that slide. Why didn’t anyone come to check on me sooner? Why was I left alone to fall?

But over time, I’ve come to realize something important. God allowed me to keep that memory, not as a reminder of neglect, but as a testimony of His protection. Even when I couldn’t see Him, He was always there. He covered me then, and He’s covered me every moment since. When I