“My strength and power are made perfect and show themselves most effective in your weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weakness and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!”
2 Corinthians 12:9
Lord, may the very things that make us feel weak be used by You to show Your glory and power through us. Father, I pray that Your strength and power would rest on Deeper Still. Yes Lord, pitch a tent over us and dwell with us. We are nothing without You. We need You. Take us above our weaknesses into Your glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
While listening to a passage being preached from the pulpit, my eyes climbed up the page of my Bible. At the top of the page was a quote from Heather Whitestone, Miss American 1995. Heather Whitestone is deaf. She says this about her deafness…
“My deafness forces me to depend on God more so that I can bear through Him. He brought me peace and taught me how to overcome my deafness.”
When I saw this quote, it struck me that we all have a “deafness” in our lives. The word “deafness” could be replaced with the word “weakness.” “Weakness” not in a sense that it necessarily handicaps, but rather it causes a certain amount of adversity or struggle. A weakness is only a weakness if it rules over you. In Christ, we can learn to overcome or “live over” our weakness.
I could say this:
My weakness forces me to depend on God more so that I can bear through Him. He brought me peace and taught me how to overcome my weakness.
What is your weakness? Paul called his a “thorn in his flesh” (2 Cor 12:7). Thorns are uncomfortable. Thorns are difficult to ignore and cause a constant nagging with irritating persistency and pain.
Perhaps the very thing we have prayed to be removed from us and have begged the Lord to take from us is one of the very things forcing us to depend on God. Perhaps our thorns aren’t hindrances but rather harken us closer to our God.
To “glory in my weakness” doesn’t mean we focus on our weaknesses, but instead dwell with the Lord in His tent as He is upon us or over us! He has overcome. We can live over our weaknesses in Him, with Him, above. If it weren’t for our weaknesses, we would live mediocrely in self- reliance on the ground and never truly experience His glory above. With this picture in mind, I can see how Paul could say with confidence…” I take pleasure in infirmites, in reproaches, in needs, in persecution, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10
Like Heather Whitestone and Paul, we have a choice to let weakness defeat us or force us to depend on God and live above. They both chose to live above in Christ. We have a choice as well.
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