2Corinthians 12:9(NLT)
“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
You and I cannot imagine the challenges that the Apostle Paul had to overcome in order to move the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the way he did. He did a complete 180-degree transformation after being converted on the road to Damascus. He is a standard bearer for God’s grace because he had notorious reputation as someone who once persecuted believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who were called during that time, “Followers of the Way”. Of course, people were skeptical of him because of his history. Yet, he persevered, being fully committed to the call that was upon his life. We must remember that Paul was human like the rest of us, and there were times when things seemed to be too much.
During one such occasion, he went to God about what he referred to as his thorn in the flesh. Some biblical scholars say that this thorn was sickness, but most believe that it was the kind of people that you and I would coin today as ‘messy’. They got in his way and tried to prevent him for moving forth in the purposes of God. More than once, Paul asked God to move these folks out of his way. We can understand this, right. We can relate to having people around us that get on our nerves in a major way. They are sent by the devil to distract us and can be so vexing that we just want the Lord to move them as far away from us as possible.
In 2Corinthians 12:9, we have Paul’s record of God’s answer to his request. Heavenly Father told him, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” For a long time, people have believed and taught that God was telling Paul to tough it out. Quite the contrary. God gave Paul a strategy that required him to lean on God’s grace and strength.
Some of us want to see ourselves as being strong, and we don’t like to see weakness in others or ourselves, but in truth we can’t do anything without the help of the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us this in John 15:5, that apart from him, we can’t do anything. We want things handled in the way we think they ought to be handled, on our timetable, but God reminds us continually that He’s the One in control. Colossians 1:17(NIV) tells us, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
In John 14:6(NLT), Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” There are no words for how important it is that we truly understand how powerful this verse is. You and I can’t make our own way. The way has been made for us. Our responsibility is to trust in the grace and strength of God. There will be challenges in life, and some of them are doozies. Sometimes we feel like the devil’s punching bag, but we are not anyone’s punching bag. We’re more than conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the victory he has won for us, we can stand strong in faith and know that as we do, the power of Christ will work through us, and we will not be disappointed. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“He Holds All Things Together”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.