It’s not about me

“Three times 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.”  2 Corinthians 12:8-9.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading; 1 Samuel 13, 1 Chronicles 2-3, and 2 Corinthians 12.

When I am weak, I am strong.

How does that work?

When I am feeling strong, then it is easy for me to assume that I am strong.  When I am feeling weak then I need help to feel strong.

Paul’s strength was going to come from God.  His lack of self-strength was a good thing because it forced him to find his strength in God.

My threshold of pain is miniscule.  I want to feel good and have things going good.  When they don’t, I am thrown off.  The missing piece in my life is that I forget that God is with me in all conditions.

If I want God to use me, I must center my life in Him during all “seasons.”  If things aren’t going the way I want them to, He is still with me and willing to use me.  Will I let Him?

In my weaknesses, I must be drawn to Him.  Then my weaknesses are a good thing.  They keep me clinging to Him for help.

“Lord, thank You for Your Word.  So much for me to learn from it.  Forgive me for being a part-time, fair-weather follower of You.  I want to rightly represent You in every situation.  I want Your Eyes and Ears.  Your Words and Thoughts.  Impart them to me, I beg.  I love You, Lord.”

Do you understand: When I am weak, He is strong?  Live accordingly.

 

Be weak so He can be strong

“Three times 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.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading; Psalm 124, and 2 Corinthians 11-13.

God is omnipotent.  I am none of the above except in my own mind.

God is in charge.  I need to surrender to His direction.

I love Him, and I am certain that He knows what is best for me.  I must learn to act accordingly.

I am constantly cold and today I am visiting where it is colder than I am used to.  Perfect time to whine about it BUT God has brought me here.  Why would I have the nerve to complain about a place He has enabled me to be at?

I must not create for myself a sense of the way things SHOULD be.  I want things to be His Way, whatever that may be.  Therefore, when I think things are tough, they aren’t if they are the way God wants them to be.

If I go my own way, then I am moving away from God.  I can’t do that.  How wonderful it will be to be completely, for better for worse, in His Will.

“Lord, I need to be tight to You.  I want to please You in everything I do.  Forgive me for my acts of independence.  I love You, Lord.  Prick my conscience when I am off course.  I do NOT want to displease You.  You are my God.”

I must be willing to do whatever God wants me to do.  I must trust Him and please Him where He places me.