2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
His grace is enough, it is all I need. His strength comes into its own in my weakness. What does that mean? How do I live this in my everyday life? When things go wrong at work or when I worry about the choices my spouse and my children are making or when I feel weak and tired and sick and just want to lie down and rest. How do I live this?
Paul tells us in this passage. He says he quit focusing on his worries and the weakness of his body. He focused on the gift. The gift that pushed him to stay in constant touch with Christ, asking for help and leaning on Christ for his every movement or decision. Not that that is easy. Paul said he was pushed to his knees.
Some days I feel as though I can do this, I can make it. Those are my worst days. Those are the days I forget to reach out to God and ask for his help and his directions. On the days when I don’t feel like I can even get out of bed, those are my good days. Those are the days I turn to God and his guidance to help me move and go on. Those days I can feel God move with me through the hours.
It is a decision every day. It is a decision that must be made every hour. The choices we make, how we respond to people and events around us that is how we depend on God to help us through each day.
