How many of us have an addiction, a weakness, something we are aware of but just cannot shake on our own? It may be a secret, your secret, something you dare not reveal, for it goes completely opposite of who you believe yourself to be and counter to the person whom you are truly trying to become.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 says, “To keep me from becoming conceited, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
If I’m the only one shouting right now, it’s okay.
Some things in the Bible reverberate over and over again, yet some of us still don’t get it, and that includes me. We do not or cannot incorporate what we’re reading into our daily lives. In this passage, Paul lets us know that there is a reason to accept our shortcomings and deal with our flaws with a basic understanding that, in doing so, God will show up and then proceed to show out.
It is through your warts that God can demonstrate to you and me and the world that He is Lord. Can you imagine experiencing the “perfect power” of the Lord? Apparently it’s as easy as looking into the mirror and making an honest assessment of who you really are and who you should be striving to become.
You are who you are only in relationship to God. And don’t forget to take your imperfections with you. If you know and accept yourself to be a child of God, then you must attempt to be an example of God’s Word and His work. The only thing standing in your way is admitting to yourself that you can’t go it alone.
You and I need help and that help comes only from one source. It’s the perfect source and comes with consequences. The consequences begin with recognizing that there is divine purpose in your particular set of weaknesses. That may be hard to believe, but it’s true.
Most of us would reject the notion that sinful could be anything more than just sinful. The text, however, says it is our duty to understand through spiritual recognition that God chooses your problems to show off His righteousness by doing miraculous things.
When you get a hand from the Lord to overcome your addictions, your passions, your vanity, your shortcomings, you get so much more than what you bargained for. According to this part of the Bible, you also get Christ’s power to work with. Isn’t that something? No wonder Paul continues by saying, “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.”
Stop denying yourself. Stop denying your insecurities. Accept them and give them over to the Lord. Then step back and watch God do His thing with your life.
