2nd Corinthians 12: 9-10 – But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Since I started following Jesus I have often found myself with one of two attitudes towards Jesus and the things he has asked me to do. The first is unknowing pride. This is when I start cruising through life and ministry and unwittingly stop relying on the power of the Holy Spirit and look instead towards myself. This is not usually a blatant turn away from asking God to use me or asking God for help–but rather a turn towards comfortability and the things I feel like I can do in my own strength.
The second is an attitude of fear or helplessness. This is when God has asked me to do something I feel that I can not do or he has given me something I can not handle. Instead of accepting the challenge, it’s easy to tell God He’s got the wrong guy and to shrink away from the challenge.
In reality, if we aren’t being pushed to our limit then we probably aren’t growing or being used most effectively for the Kingdom Of God. In this verse, Paul was being pushed to his limits, but he recognized that it was in that kind of weakness he had to completely submit and depend on God to equip and strengthen him. The times where I have felt the most used by God have been during times of complete weakness where I have had to admit that I wasn’t able to do it on my own, but God could do it through me.
CHALLENGE
1) Remember back on a time that you had to rely on God. Did he come through?
2) Have you been stretched or challenged lately in your walk with God? Why or why not?
By Philip Schulz | Spokane, Washington