Sunday, April 18, 2010

His Power Made Perfect

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. 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.

-2 Corinthians 12:9


Many, many, many times God has used this verse to teach me and encourage me. And the things that He has taught me, have taken deep roots and grown inside of me. I believe what He says about grace.

I have learned that His grace is sufficient. I've learned that for each day, each moment, He gives the grace that I need. In situations where I've wondered how we'd make it through, I can testify that each day I trusted Him for grace I was flooded with it.  Any time I wondered just how I would put one foot in front of the other, by some miracle, I would feel myself moving forward.

It's the other part that gets me.  You know, the part about boasting about my weaknesses.  I shudder about my weaknesses, they look so very... weak.  That's the detestable side of me that people just have to put up with until I can finally get it together. It's very certainly nothing to boast about.

Another version says "revel in my weaknesses".  Take joy, great pleasure, delight in my weaknesses?!  I cannot wrap my mind around that!! 

And that is exactly what my Father has been so gently revealing to me.  No, I cannot wrap my mind around that, because it's another element of faith.  When I am weak, then I am strong.   I could have said the words before, but faith believes the words.  Faith has a heartbeat that beats with the truth of who God says He is.

And so now, I believe what He says about weaknesses.  I believe that He can take something fragile,  frail, and broken, and make it strong, healthy, perfect.

So I will be practicing daily, you know, reveling in my weaknesses...