Perfect strength in desperate weakness

Today’s Reading: Micah 1, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

There is so much going on in today’s readings. However there is just one verse toward the end of the 2 Corinthians 12 reading that really resonated with me as I read these passages today.

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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 2:9)

 

“Dear Mom, What if I want to quit?”

Earlier in the week amongst the endless amount of junk in my inbox I came across a blog post from Focus on the Family and a dialog between a daughter (a young mum) and her older mother.  The daughter wrote:

What if I want out? Okay…don’t freak out. I am planning on staying, because on our wedding day, I promised I’d stick our marriage out. But what if I don’t WANT to anymore?

In her reply, the older mum (Barbara Rainey) describes times where she too had wanted to quit on her marriage and her kids. She describes numerous times where she was “angry and confused, lonely and scared, and I didn’t know why”. She wanted out. She didn’t want to be a tired, worn out, grumpy mum and wife anymore. She wanted her “old self” back.

Somewhere, in the midst of the heartbreak and turmoil, Barbara asked God for help. She writes: “The irony is that God was totally okay with me finally saying, “I can’t do this.” In fact, I think He had been waiting for me to make this discovery for many years. What He wanted was for me to add a short prayer, “But will You show me how?”

 

“Dear God, What if I want to quit?”, Love Paul

I think Paul knew what it felt like to want to quit. Early in 2 Corinthians he writes :

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. (2 Corinthians 1:8)

Paul knew what it was like to want to lie down and die. He knew what it was like to be in circumstances that were out of his control were way beyond his ability to cope. In chapter 12 verse 9 and following he gives us the truth he learnt out of hard experience

“he [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”

 

Perfect strength in desperate weakness

Have you ever felt like you having nothing left – in a place where you have no control and you want to quit? Ever found yourself in that place through a series of circumstances that are no fault of your own? Have you found yourself in troubled times way beyond your ability to endure?

The message from God’s Word this morning to you is that God is still in control. He hasn’t forgotten you and He will keep His promise to work out all things for your good (Romans 8:28). He still loves you higher than the heavens are above the earth (Psalm 103).

God wants you to know that He is all you need. While you may be successful, gifted and perhaps even accomplished, in my experience most of us end up discovering sooner or later that our giftedness, friends, knowledge and experience will only get us so far. Only God’s Grace is sufficient – and He gives it freely to those who ask.

 

Prayer

Dear Lord, help us not to rely on ourselves but to rely on you. Please demonstrate your power in our lives when we are at the end. Encourage us, heal us, restore us, rescue us  – teach us so that we can authentically say, “Your grace is sufficient for me”. Demonstrate your mighty power in our weakness Lord. Amen.

(PS Barbara Rainey’s article can be found at http://everthinehome.com/dear-mom-what-if-i-want-to-quit)