Our weakness--Christ's Power

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10 Satan came to steal our joy, our witness, and our peace. He wants to kill our love for God and for others. He wants to destroy our families, our dreams, our gifts, and our very lives. And if Peter and Paul are no match for satan, then certainly I am not. But, praise God, we have a Saviour who came to give us life... and not just life, but abundant, supernatural, overflowing, Spirit-empowered life. Indeed, He promises that at my weakest, most frail, most vulnerable, He is strongest. Paul begged God to take away his thorn in the flesh, "But He said, '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. 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." 2 Cor. 12:9-10

Wow! Do we really believe that? We've all heard it over and over, and it sounds so good in the abstract, but how about when those hardships and calamities and weaknesses really hit home? How about when it seems there is a bulls eye on our backs for the insults of the world? How about when someone we love struggles desperately with illness, and we feel powerless to help or do anything to alleviate their pain? How about when our hopes are dashed or our finances are destroyed or our hearts are broken? Do we trust enough then to turn to Him and ask that His supernatural power be displayed as never before in our shattered lives or shuttered hearts?

All I know is that every single time when I have been at my wits end and felt utterly drained or discouraged or defeated and turned to Him, He has been abundantly more than enough. And every single time I have failed to look to Him in faith and instead commenced to complain and despair and try desperately to figure it out on my own, I have experienced only my weakness, not His strength. What a tragically lost opportunity to experience the grace and peace and power of God in my weakness! He has promised in His eternal, inerrant Word (straight from His mouth to our ears!) that His infinite power is displayed and experienced in our lives in our weakness. So in those bitter, hard, challenging moments, we have the choice to turn to Him, claim His promise, and experience His power or we can choose self-pity, self-preoccupation, self-reliance, and and self-defeat. O Lord Jesus, like the father of the sick son who longed and hoped for You to bring healing, we believe; Help Thou our unbelief! (Mark 9:24)

How beautiful this is when we see it displayed in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ! And how their faithfulness and the display of God's supernatural power in their weakness encourages, convicts, inspires and strengthens a watching world. I have seen this spectacular display of God's power in the lives of so many of my dear friends as they struggle with seemingly impossible situations. As Priscilla Shirer wrote: "The abundant life is not when no impossible situations occur and you're experiencing peace, joy, and happiness. While that's nice, true abundance is really seen when you're sitting in a prison circumstance, when you're eye to eye with an impossible situation, and right in the heart of your impossible, you experience the fullness of God." Boy, does that ever describe the apostle Paul as he sat in a prison and wrote his epistles overflowing with joy and thanksgiving and praise!

Just this morning, I have seen this displayed as I read the Caring Bridge entry of Todd Gaylor. His wife, Sydney, the daughter of dear friends of ours, is a young mom who is fighting an aggressive brain tumor. They have dealt with unimaginable pain and uncertainty and hardship as she has fought this cruel cancer. So many times over the past months, I have read his entries and wept: "This, too, Lord?" I've cried out. "How much more must they endure? How could it get any harder?"

And yet, through all the pain and doubt and struggle, the weakness of this young family has put the power of God on shimmering, brilliant display for all the world to see. What an unspeakable privilege it has been to gain tiny glimpses into their hard fought journey where we have unquestionably seen God's "severe mercy" and power and love and grace. Just today in his Caring Bridge entry, Todd included this quote from Charles Spurgeon (who suffered all his life from gout, rheumatism, anxiety and severe depression): "I think that health is the greatest blessing that God ever sends us, except sickness, which is far better. I would give anything to be perfectly healthy; but if I had to go over my time again, I could not get on without those sick beds and those bitter pains, and those weary, sleepless nights. Oh, the blessedness that comes to us through smarting."

O Lord, forgive us for complaining and doubting, rather than trusting and entrusting ourselves to You when those times of "smarting" come. Lord, we believe; help Thou our unbelief! Help us to experience and demonstrate Your perfect power in our weakness. To God be the glory.