God is Working

Monday, August 2

God is Working    

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

There are some scriptures you just read and it leaves you feeling good. But there are others which you read and it gives you strength to go on.  Each time I read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, I come alive. This passage gives me real strength in light of our real weakness. There is a sense in which all you need to know when facing your weaknesses is this: God is for you. Though you were a sinner set against God, though you have some bad habits which you cannot quit on your own, Jesus Christ has forgiven and adopted you. You are now perfect in His sight. Christ’s power telescopes into our weakness, extending most fully where we are weakest. For Paul, this meant that Christ worked powerfully in and through his “thorn” to humble and prompt prayer in him.

The Message bible uses words which pack a punch, it reads ‘… Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

There are many times when I’ve asked the Lord to make me strong in the face of a difficult time, so I can have the victory. A while back, I remember crying out in prayer to the Lord, “If I could be strong in the face of this situation, I would, but I can’t. My legs are crumbling.  I’m not strong. The walls are caving in and I feel weak.” A gentle voice replied, “Weakness is good. Now that you acknowledge your weakness, I can work.”

Sometimes God takes us to places in which we are forced to let go of the rope and cling to Him. If God had made me strong as I requested, I would have relied on myself and had confidence in my own ability to be strong. This reminds me that in my weakness, I must rely on Him.

This is how God wants us to be – totally dependent on Him. Consider the words written in Psalm 3:3 ‘But You, O Lord, are a shield for me’. We do not have to fight this battle on our own, instead we ought to take cover behind the Lord’s shield and allow Him to do the fighting.

May you find strength in the words of Paul from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, recognizing that God is working wonders through it.