When I am weak that I am strong

It’s really no wonder that the world thinks some of the things that we say are crazy. But that’s because they have no assurance that God is a very present help in times of need (Psalm 46:1). And if that's not true, then the principle at the head of this post from 2 Corinthians 12:10 is nonsense! But I like to illustrate it by reference to the promise “If anyone lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives liberally to all, and it will be given” (James 1:5). The point is that when we come to God in humility acknowledging that we lack wisdom, and then ask Him for it, then It God gives us that wisdom. So we might say when I am not wise, then I am wise!

It’s the same thing with the principal Paul is elucidating. In fact Paul had prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be taken away, and the Lord had essentially told him that he was able to take on God’s strength precisely when he came to the end of his own strength (2 Corinthians 12:8.9). What I want to say here, is that many, many Christians have never come to the end of their own strength. As a result that is all they have! And when all we have is only our own natural strengths and abilities, then as Paul puts it “Are we not mere men” (1 Corinthians 3:3)?

It seems that all too often we are willing to settle for a Christian life that operates only out of our own natural strengths and abilities. But like Paul, I had to come to the end of myself. It was a crisis point. I was either going to die, or to start to learn to walk in His strength, His wisdom, and His Grace. And in many ways I’m still a beginner at it! However, although I may not yet be all that He is calling me to be, I thank God I am not what I once was Hallelujah!

Father, it is my earnest desire, that Your life in me may more and more point to You. It is tempting to compare myself with those who are ahead of me, but we are foolish Lord when we compare ourselves with ourselves (2 Corinthians 10:12). Man looks at the outward appearance, but You look at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). And what I’m understanding here Father, is that it’s not so much where we are at in our level of maturity, but it is the direction that, by Your Spirit, we are moving. It has been said that growth is the only sign of life, and I am determined to have all that You have for me. I am not willing to settle for anything less in Your precious Name Amen