WHEN I AM WEAK--PART 3

“Suffering is never wasted”

I heard that line today

Then a still small voice whispered

My ways are not your ways

My thoughts turned toward heaven

As I lifted you in prayer

What blessings are being poured out

That we are not aware?

The struggles of this battle

One you did not choose

May seem so overwhelming

As you fight so not to lose

But even in your suffering

God is standing by your side

He will show His glory

He will bless as well as guide

For when the trial is over

And the race has been run

You’ll have the chance to look back

And see all God has done

Our thoughts are not His thoughts

--oh, how I wish they were

To know the reason for the pain

And to know for sure…

…that suffering is not wasted

That good outweighs the bad

So even as we suffer

We can rejoice and be glad

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)

WHEN I AM WEAK

PART ONE

REALITY CHECK

While talking to His disciples Jesus revealed to them that in Jerusalem He would be made to suffer. He told them that He would be put to death but on the third day He would rise again. Peter pulled Him to the side and rebuked Him. He said to Jesus ”Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!”

I find it amazing that Jesus JUST revealed He would rise again after three days of His death and Peter only focused on the suffering and death part. Maybe Peter thought ‘rising from the dead’ was some sort of metaphor or maybe he was so disturbed at the thought of Jesus dying that he didn’t quite catch that part.

In response, Jesus turns back to the other disciples and rebukes Peter in front of them all. “Get behind me, Satan!” He said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matt 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33).

Can you imagine Peter’s confusion and embarrassment? His intention was to reassure Jesus, maybe even scold Him a little for having such negative thoughts and then Jesus, in front of all the other disciples, practically calls him Satan.

Eventually Peter realized that the suffering Jesus endured was all part of God’s plan. That without it salvation could not be offered to the world. Peter’s desire not to see Christ suffer and die would have been Satan’s desire also.

Jesus was not spared His suffering, not even when He asked His Father God if that would be a possibility (Luke 22:42). Instead, He suffered and He died. But that, of course, was not the end. He rose from the dead. The ultimate good--salvation for all came from the ultimate bad--the sacrifice of God’s Son.

Peter did not see, at first, any purpose in Jesus’ having to suffer. It wasn’t until the plan was completed that all the pieces fell into place and all that Jesus taught finally made sense.

That is the way it is for most things isn’t it? We don’t see any good in something until it is done. We don’t see the good in exercise or dieting until we have been doing it enough to feel more energetic and fit into our clothes again. Disciplining our children is no fun until we start seeing them become polite and responsible people. There are many things we suffer through hoping good will come of it.

But God has promised those who love Him that, “He will make all things work for good” (Romans 8:28). ALL THINGS—including suffering. We don’t have to just hope for something good to result from it, we can know there is a purpose for what we go through. We can know that God is working on something good.

Even with the knowledge that God is using our pain for something good we don’t always get the luxury of knowing what that good actually is. Sometimes we never find out. Yet how many times have we heard those who have endured hardship say things like

I realized what my priorities are;

I didn’t know how caring people were;

I’ve learned so much;

I wouldn’t change it;

I’ll never forget….

Sadly, Sometimes it takes a tragedy, large or small, to stop us in our tracks and force us to see who or what we are really putting our faith in.

If we put our faith in our jobs –and we lose it.

If we put our faith in our family- and they leave us.

If we put our faith in ourselves- and we get sick.

It is then that we might realize how small our faith is in God. It is when He holds us as we weep and works on our hearts as it lay broken that our faith grows.

Upon hearing Jesus speak of His impending suffering Peter totally missed the part of His resurrection. Peter focused on the suffering and in doing so felt the need to control the situation by taking Jesus aside and rebuking Him. Jesus had to remind him that he “did not have the mind of God”. It was a reminder that God was in control…as it should be. Even in the Garden when Jesus asked if His suffering was necessary He still acknowledged God’s control with the words, “not my will, but thine”.

It is difficult in the middle of our suffering to focus on what God might have in mind. Especially when the answer is not always revealed to us. But we don’t need to have all the answers. That is the luxury of not having to be in control. It can bring us comfort just to know that there is indeed a plan for us. A purpose for what we endure here on earth.

This is perhaps what Paul meant by, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). We, in our weakness, discover we can trust God. In our brokenness we give up control to Him and with God in control we are indeed strong.