The Holy One calls to me this morning. There are days when I feel like more than a conqueror,
but today is not one of those days. Today
is a day when I look around at all that seems to be falling apart in the world
and I cannot find my sling or a stone.
Thankfully the Holy Spirit knows my every thought
before I find it. “I AM your strength in weakness.
Be still and know that I am God”.
Much ado is made about being valiant, courageous and
strong. Weakness is not a pleasant nor
desirable self-assessment. Weakness does
not fit with a warrior mentality yet where else can we truly know the power of
God separate from our own?
I have learned that over our lifetime and
circumstances, our prayers are heard and answered but not always in the ways we
expect. I have for many years prayed that
hard circumstances and difficult people would be removed from my life. Lately my Counselor has helped me to realize
that I need those weights to grow stronger in faith and dependency upon Him. He has told me that to ask for their removal
is like going to a gym and asking the coach too remove the weights from the bar
I am about to lift; a totally pointless workout time at the gym.
Paul, who was among the greatest of Apostles and gave
us most of the New Testament, when dealing with his “thorn” in the flesh wrote
this as the Lord’s answer:
2
Corinthian 12:9-10, “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you for my
strength is made perfect in weakness”.
Therefore, most gladly I will boast in my infirmities that the power of
Christ may rest upon me….” And in the
issues of life, he went on to say, “Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities,
in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak
then I am strong.”
Here is here the rubber meets the road in my faith. My pride and great temptation is to win…my
way. Even as I relate life trials to the
unseen enemy’s opposition, the battle provokes me to independent flesh
maneuvers and failure is defined as losing a skirmish where I see the evil one temporarily
gaining ground. I try to take him out in my own strength and even my own “power”
(strength) in prayer.
Prayer is not the power. God is the power. Prayer is my way of connecting with God’s
power. If I think that “power” is in the
prayer and not in the One who calls me to pray, then it is my strength at
issue.
Prayer power is not enough to defeat he
opposition. Grace is God's power in our
weakness and we fail to recognize it until we can get a breather and look back
at where we came from. Grace is seen in
the rear view mirror and from that perspective we know that it was not our great
power or slick moves that got us through the swamp land when we were overwhelmed
and broken.
It is the role and desire of the Holy Spirit who
dwells within the heart of every believer and Christ follower to Glorify Jesus,
the Son of God. This should be our desire as well. His glory through us depends
on the ruling authority of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
When we overcome our flesh reactions by the
virtues of Christ which is His fruit to bear when we face the challenges of
people and life, then Jesus is glorified to the world around us. Love instead of hate, joy instead of despair,
peace instead of war, and all the fruit of the Spirit instead of the sins of
the flesh.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is in such contrast to a natural
flesh reaction, people see that something is different about us. That contrast between flesh and spirit, when
the Spirit controls us and peace prevails is the attraction that draws others
to Christ through us.
This life is hard and designed to be that way. Flesh cannot handle life with grace. Only the Holy Spirit can handle life with
grace. But that grace (defined as God’s
ability and power) is provided to Christians and is our strength in
weakness.
We are told, “Do not be surprised at the fiery trials
you are facing”. It is in the midst of
these fiery trials that God’s grace is found to be sufficient and as we rely on
the Holy Spirit within to be our strength in weakness His grace brings great
glory to Jesus, our Savior, our Lord and our King.
In these days of feeling personal weakness in the trials
of life, may I remember Paul’s words, follow his example and maybe even take
pleasure in the hard things, “for Christ’s sake” when He says, ‘My strength is made
perfect in weakness”.
The Spirit is calling.
Can you hear Him?
