Strengthening Exercise: Knee Bends
...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Life can be hard. Some of you right now are experiencing pain or heartache. Perhaps you have a lingering physical illness. Some of you may have experienced the end of a marriage or the death of a loved one. Ongoing personal problems can make a person physically, mentally, or spiritually weak.
The apostle Paul was privileged to receive numerous awe-inspiring revelations from the Lord, but he also experienced numerous afflictions. Paul wrote about one affliction that God didn’t remove: To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me (2 Corinthians 12:7). We don’t know what this “thorn” was, but we do know Paul pleaded with God three times to take the affliction away.
How many times have you bowed before God, asking Him to remove your difficulty or change your situation? Yet, the problem remains.
Paul demonstrated that it is good to turn to God in times of difficulty. It’s good to acknowledge He is the One who can change or even remove our problems. Through prayer we demonstrate dependence upon God, but we also demonstrate trust in God, who may or may not change the situation. Instead, God may change us!
God answered Paul’s prayer very clearly. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Through his unremoved weakness, Paul would experience God’s amazing, unmatched power. Likewise, others would witness God’s power in Paul.
Are you consistently, humbly bowing before God with full assurance you can trust Him in every aspect of your life? As you go through your trial, will you remain dependent upon the Lord? If so, you will experience His power and grace that is abundantly sufficient.
Lord, though I admit I don’t like difficulty, I know that your grace is sufficient for me. I pray that your power is made perfect in my weakness.
Jan Burkhart
