Verse of the Day 9/13

Verse of the  Day 9/13

 

2 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

There are times  in most  of  our lives, where we feel that we don't have the strength, talent, courage to do the job at  hand.  It may be related to a physical  disability, lack  of  formal education  or  training, or simply uncertainty from  never having done something before.  In  Paul's case he had a physical  ailment that he asked God to  take away from  him to allow him to  serve God  better.  It doesn't sound  like a selfish request, certainly God  would honor  such a request.  God's answer to Paul is how God would respond  to us in many situations, "My grace is sufficient".  Paul was to allow the power of  Christ to "rest" on him, to allow for His strength to come through  in us giving us the  ability that we ourselves  may lack.

 

Brandon  Hatmaker writes, "In order to take our gospel identity seriously, we have to stop fearing our inabilities and start believing in God's ability, that He is with us and that He is for us, and that His view of us and our circumstances is more expansive than ours. This has nothing to do with what we can accomplish; it has everything to do with what we can surrender. Our fear is unnecessary and our shame is unfounded."

 

In Ephesians 2:8-10 Paul writes that we are saved by grace, through faith as a gift from God, and not by our own  good  works.  We are His workmanship, created for good works that have been  prepared for  us, and  we should walk  in them.  I think that  is what Paul is talking  about here in  2 Corinthians, His grace is  sufficient to overcome our weaknesses and  enable  us  to to the  things that  He  has called us to  do, that we in ourselves don't  feel the  confidence  to do.

 

I read the  following  poem and  attached it  to  these verses in  my eBible.  It  is a reminder that  God  has made us all  unique,  each  with our own  weaknesses, but God  sees beyond  the  weakness and will achieve His  purposes, weaving a tapestry of His grace in our lives.

 

Grant Tuller:

 

My life is but a weaving between my God and me

 

I do not choose the colors; He worketh steadily.

 

Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride

 

Forget He sees the upper-, and I the under-side.

 

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly

 

Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reasons why

 

The dark threads are as needful in a skillful weaver's hand

 

As the threads of gold and silver, in the pattern he has planned.

 

Blessings,

 

Mike

 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10The Message (MSG)

^7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

 

 

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