For example, 2 Corinthians 12: 7-9 reads, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
“I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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.”
Talk about some powerful stuff!
Paul lets us know in this scripture that there is indeed a reason to accept our shortcomings, our flaws and our faults with the basic understanding that it is through them that God invariably shows up and then proceeds to show out.
Can you imagine experiencing the ‘perfect power’ of the lord? Apparently it’s as easy as looking in the mirror and making an honest assessment of who you truly are in relation to who you should strive to be.
I suppose the best way to say it is you are who you are only in relationship to God. If you know and accept yourself, as Paul did, to be a child of God, then you must also be a man or woman of God, recognizing your limits in His presence and His limitlessness in yours.
The only thing standing in your way is you. If the truth be told, you can’t make it by yourself. You and I need help and that help comes from only one source. Now it’s a perfect source so be prepared to have some difficulty accepting this and its accompanying consequences.
The consequences are coming to grips with the fact that there is a divine purpose in your particular set of weaknesses.
Most of us would rather accept the notion that our sinful existence is just that, sinful. But the text says it’s our job to revel in the spiritual recognition that God is waiting to do His miracle thing when it comes to your frailties.
When you get a hand from God to overcome your addictions, your pride and ego, your physical weaknesses and your vanity, you also get so much more than you bargained for.
According to Paul, you also get Christ’s power to work with. Isn’t that something? No wonder Paul continues by saying, “That is why, for Christ’s sake I delight in weaknesses, insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.”
By only the words, you could think Paul had lost his mind. But when taken in context, isn’t it true that from your most impossible situations, when you do give your life to Him who loves you more than you love yourself, God’s perfect power rescues you.
How many testimonies does it take for you and me to give God the praise that he really deserves for accomplishing for us what we cannot accomplish for ourselves?
All I’m saying is stop fighting yourself. Stop playing games about what you know you cannot control. Stop denying your insecurities and your passions. Accept them and give them up to the Lord too.
The step back and watch Him do his thing in your life. But please be careful. It’s hard as Paul indicates to revel in your dark side. But once you realize it’s all about God’s party and His destiny for you. The test becomes testimony and the party just got started. May God bless and keep you always.
