Sometimes God will weaken you until you get to the place where you realize you will only succeed with His help. He wants us to depend on Him; and the power of His strength in us—the power of His Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul came to a place where he desperately needed God’s strength. It must have surprised him to learn that the Lord was waiting for the opportunity to reveal His strength!
“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
RELEVANCE
God is after our heart. He wants us to trust Him with all our heart. Before we do, though, He has to get our mind to the place where we back down and stop second-guessing Him; and totally trust Him to be our sufficiency.
“And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6).
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
REFLECT AND RELATE
Think of your greatest achievements. What were the situations and conditions surrounding you? Be honest with yourself. How much can you attribute to your own abilities? How much can you attribute to help from others? How much was circumstance? How much can you not account for? How much was grace beyond your self?
REFERENCES
Romans 5:1-5; Acts 4:32-35; 1 Corinthians 15:9-11; Ephesians 2:4-10