02/19/2020
When we are suffering calamity, or our bodies are burning with fever, do we count these things as strengths? When we lose our livelihood, or our children are suffering, do we find that such things cripple us, or are we strengthened by them, even as we call out to the Lord for relief? Many things afflict us in life, but God’s grace remains, and it grows stronger in the eye of every storm.
“But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
In this scripture Paul is enduring something he calls a thorn in his flesh which he says is a messenger of Satan, and he tells us that he has asked God to remove it three times in prayer.
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.”
2 Corinthians 12:8 ESV
As we first read in verse 9, God tells him that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." So how, and why is this true, or necessary? Why is it that we must become weak in order to become strong in our faith?
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.”
Isaiah 40:28-29 ESV
Any horticulturalist will tell you that a plant is not strengthened by constant watering, but by periodic drought. When the rains are coming regularly and the ground is continuously moist then there is no need for it to search for nourishment, but when the ground becomes dry then plants must send their roots deeper in search of moisture, and when the rains return they flourish. For this reason Paul boasts in his weakness...
“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV
On occasion hurricanes strike, and their winds are fierce as they wreak havoc, and leave and leave a path of destruction in their path, but what amazes me is that these winds destroy the stiff and proud oaks, and other hardwoods, and yet, although denuded of leaves, leave standing the palms that bent down in the powerful wind. likewise, our faith is strengthened by the droughts, and we survive the strongest winds of life as the blow hard against us.
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10 ESV
Our suffering is often painful, and we pray for God to remove it from us, but just as in the case of Paul, there are certain tribulations that, though unpleasant, and perhaps even horrific, bring growth to our spirit that can’t come in any other way. We only have to look at the passion of Christ to understand this, and we hear the cry of His humanity in the Garden of Gethsemane...
“And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.”
Luke 22:41-43 ESV
Jesus the Christ knew the suffering that was ahead, and that it was God’s will, but Jesus the man dreaded it’s coming. It is the same for us... our bodies feel the pain of our spiritual growth, and we moan at the thought.
“And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Luke 22:44 ESV
Then came the suffering, and death, but God's grace remained through it all, and erupted into full bloom in the tomb where Jesus lay wrapped in the shroud of death...
“But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.”
Matthew 28:5-6 ESV
It is in this light that we are told to pick up our cross and follow Him. We aren’t told to roll back the stone, or ascend into heaven, but to pick up our cross...
“Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Matthew 16:24 ESV
So we gain in faith through our suffering, and by enduring all those things that carrying our cross each day entails, but it isn’t until we are nailed to it, our life seeps from us, and the tomb is sealed behind us, that we can truly understand God’s mercy and grace. Are we ready to become weak so that we can be strong? Are we ready to praise god in the midst of life’s storms? Are we ready to rise up out of our grave and join Jesus?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for all of the good days in my life in which I am at ease, and feel no pain or suffering, but thank you more Lord for those days of pain, that strengthen me in my faith, and bring me ever closer to you. Help me Father to endure the afflictions, and the thorns I must carry in life, and keep me focused on your good will that is at the summation of every hardship, when I come to find that all things have worked together for good, and that my eternity is with you, and in the joy that you bring. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who teaches me in the midst of my suffering, and draws me near in your comforting embrace during my times of greatest grief. Praised be your name as you bend me like a palm in the eye of life’s storms, and send my roots of faith deep in the presence of withering drought. Great are you in wisdom, and merciful are your lessons... even those that leave their mark on me. All glory is yours Holy Father, and it is made perfect through your grace that flows through Jesus, and leads me as it shines brighter than the sun before me. Hear my prayers Father, but as I cry out in the midst of my pain, or from the bowels of suffering, let your will be done, and my faith find wings within it.
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV
Rich Forbes