2 Corinthians 12 : 8-10

This week is a pretty slow week at my job being that my boss is on vacation. I have had a lot of time on my hands to sit and think, and think. Since I don't have much to write about today, I thought I would share one of my favorite bible verses.

Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reaproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In the previous verses Satan had put a thorn in Paul's flesh, and Paul asked God to remove the thorn. The thorn in this verse represents something which frustrates and causes trouble in the life of the one afflicted.

Instead of removing the the thorn from Paul's life, God gave Paul grace that would be sufficient to meet all of Paul's needs. There are two ways of bearing a burden though. The first is to remove the burden completely, or instead of removing the burden you can strengthen the shoulder that bears the burden. The latter is exactly what God was doing for Paul, He made him stronger to bear the load.

Great tribulation brings out the Great strength in God. If we never feel inward conflicts and sinking of soul, we do not know much about the upholding POWER OF GOD!

God's grace can meet our needs because it is available all the time, and grace is the very strength of God.

In this verse Paul says "I take pleasure in my infirmities." He is rejoicing that God has forced him to rely solely on Him, and therefore he can say "when I am personally weak, I am strong because of the grace of God."

What a triumph it is that when we are at our weakest moments, mentally or physically, we can rely on God and we can be stronger than EVER! What can the world do to such a man so firm in the grip of Jesus? God did not allow Paul to be weak for the sake of weakness, but to show that there was a devine strength in Paul that he could only find in the Lord.

There have been many weak moments in my life, but I always knew that God's grace would get me through. It is like the "Footsteps" poem, when we are so weak, God's grace carries us through! WOW!