Saturday 21 Apr 2018

April 21: 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Devotion:
There are two sides to every story, the right side and the wrong side! It is amazing how many people will try to take the words of others and mix them up into something the opposite of everything which was intended. Many people will take God’s Word and try to make it say something which is simply not written down – this way they can confuse others who are genuinely seeking the truth.

When the apostle talks here about being made strong in his weaknesses, he is not talking about being made strong in his sins. How could we even begin to think about being made strong in any sins when we know that any sin drives a wedge between us and God? How can that then lead to strength? If we want to be made strong, we have to have any wedges removed so we can draw closer to God where we will be able to find strength. The apostle is not talking about walking off by himself and finding his own inner strength, he is talking about the one who strengthens him, God!

When we find we do have ailments and imperfections (not a weakness to give into temptations, but rather physical or mental imperfections) then we need to remind ourselves how we need to seek His glory rather than our own. Yes, we can submit our prayers to God to beg for those imperfections to be removed, but whatever the outcome we need to remember that everything works to the glory of God. If we are genuinely walking with God, He would not have allowed it if it would not lead to His glory! If we have wondered off track and left Him behind, why blame God? We need to remember that each thing in our lives has a purpose – more often than not we cannot see it, but it has.

Don’t be tempted to say that your spiritual weakness is there for a reason – that is not what God teaches us… that is just our personal choice we have made! The truth of the matter is that God knows what He is doing and He alone knows what we need to strengthen our relationship with Him!

Points to Ponder:
Have you ever tried to take the wrong medicine just to see if it could work?

Why must we continue to think that we can do better without God?