"For Power is Perfected in Weakness"
I love these verses. Currently my Precept (
Precept Ministries) Bible Study class is on break. What I will often do between courses is a quick devotional read or go to
www.biblestudytools.com read and use their material for my quite time with the Lord. When I went to Bible Study Tools today, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 was listed as the verse of the day.
The Apostle Paul writes often of his weakness(es). He never identifies the weakness(es), but referred to a "thorn in his side". Many scholars and theologians believe it had to do with his eyesight or maybe his frustration with his eyesight, but I beg to differ. I believe it was some sort of sin or a sinful desire that was within him. Like the rest of us, he was not immune to sin. And I am sure that the enemy had temptation set up around every corner waiting for the Apostle Paul to take the bait.
We all have that little secret desire that we struggle with. For some it might be the "little white lie". For others it is "not loving our neighbor". Hey folks! That means not loving someone for no other reason than their skin is a different color or they are from a different country. Now, what about "gluttony"? And it comes in all forms. Food, alcohol, money, power, and that list can go on and on. Gluttony is just another word for "greed" & "covetousness". "Attitude", now that seems like a little thing, but it can effect, good or bad, groups, families, churches. A bad attitude is like a poison and can have an effect that will last for generations!
Now let's talk about "big" sins.... (Or are they? More about that further down in this paragraph.) Murder, adultery, stealing, what about homosexuality? fornication? abortion? even borrowing without asking? Sin is sin. Some try to re-write scripture, discredit scripture, discount scripture, re-interpret scripture to suit their way. Still does not change what God said. And what is more? God sees all sin as the same. I know, we in our both conservative and liberal Christian ideology tend to want to categorize sin, as in this one over here is worse than the that one over there. I am here to tell you that on judgement day, when we stand before God, all of our sin will be equal. And did we hand that sin over to God? Did we allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of that sin, confess it, be cleansed of it and allow God to be glorified in our weakness? Or did we deny the Holy Spirit?
Again, we do not know what the Apostle Paul's weakness was, whether it was a physical weakness or a sinful desire, but we do know that he gave it over to God. Paul gladly boast of his "weakness so that the power of Christ might dwell in me". WOW! There is a man at our church, who proclaimed this to me the first time I met him 12 years ago. We shook hands and the next thing he told me is how he is a drug addict and how God delivered him from that darkness. To this day, he is faithful. You can see him walking with Christ daily! Oh to be so bold and open to profess God's graciousness!
"Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." (vs 10) And that strength coming only from the Lord. I have to confess, when the man I spoke of in the previous paragraph told me he was a drug addict, I was a little taken aback. I wasn't going to insult him, persecute him, cause difficulties or distress, but I wonder how others may have addressed him? Old friends he has shared Christ with, other Christians who like me, were taken aback and perhaps didn't want to associate with him. This young man told me that it was a daily struggle and he could get through it only by Christ alone.
Paul was a Jew and a follower of Jesus Christ. His struggles and difficulties were real. Prior to his conversion, he had a good life. He left all that behind to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The letters he wrote to the churches, most of which he started, offer words of encouragement, just as the words in the above (and below) are to encourage us.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness". Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Let this be an encouragement to you. Whatever you struggle with, know this: God's grace as being sufficient. Allow Him to be glorified in our weakness. His strength will see you through, just as it did for the Apostle Paul.
God's Word, one of those daily "Big"
...Things in Life,
Hugs,
Missy
