When I AM WEAK

PART TWO

OPEN DOOR TO GRACE

In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul tells us that he has asked God to take away a “thorn in his flesh”. Three times Paul pleads for relief and three times God said no.

I do not know what that thorn was… a physical ailment, a hard to resist temptation? We know Paul was not married so it couldn’t have been in-laws! All we are told is that this thorn was a messenger from Satan given to torment him and keep him from becoming conceited. (Nope, still not in-laws)

God did not take away Paul’s thorn but He did give Paul a reason. God said to him, “My grace is sufficient to you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

As understanding on how God can use such thorns to display His Glory entered Paul’s thinking, he embraced the thorn and even rejoiced because of it.

It is hard to imagine suffering and rejoicing at the same time. We live in a world where the two do not, seemingly, belong together. Yet, I have noticed God’s thinking and the thinking of this world very often contradict each other…”First shall be last”(Luke 13:30)…”Those who are poor are rich…” (James 2:5). So, it seems, is the case here.

I have experienced the strength and peace of God during times of suffering. It is a sensation that cannot be described to someone who has not felt it. Feeling joy in the very heart of sorrow, peace among turmoil, it goes against all that is expected in this world.

The difference between God’s peace everyday and His Peace in times of pain is like the difference between the first signs of spring and the first signs of spring after a cold, miserable, hard winter.

It is the difference between a hug in a casual greeting and a hug after the death of a loved one.

It is the difference between friends bringing a hot meal to a gathering and friends bringing a hot meal while you and your family are dealing with cancer.

The spring, the hug, and the meal have not changed in their nature but in the middle of hardships they are so much more. More needed, more felt, more appreciated. They are hope personified.

So it is with God’s peace in troubling times. Do we need hardship to experience it? Of course not, but its presence feels stronger and is more welcomed.

If you have been thrust into difficult situations, have you noticed how often God reveals Himself during those times, to you as well as to others? If you listen I bet you will hear at least one amazing story connected to every tragedy…

…A swarm of butterflies surround a grieving daughter in a moment when reassurance is needed, only to fly away when a smile appears among the tears.

…A beloved cat taking a flower out of a kitchen vase and placing it on the vacant pillow of it’s owner who is now sleeping in a hospital battling cancer.

…A mother’s favorite flower growing in the middle of her son’s yard days after her death.

These are just some of the stories I have heard from friends and family. They are amazing stories that have brought comfort in times of grief.

But I have to wonder, in our time of need is God revealing Himself to us more or is it simply that we are looking toward Him more and therefore see Him? Either way, God uses our trials to show Himself to us and to others and in doing so brings us closer to Him.

And so, as Paul said:

“I will boast all the gladly about my weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

--2 Corinthians 12:10

(If you would like to read more about Amazing miracles in the middle of great tragedy…read By Faith , by Laura Roberts)