When I am weak, then I am strong

Since I am new to the blogging world, I have been trying to decide what I want my blogs to center around. Just the other day I made a list of my favorite Bible verses. Some of them I would like to memorize, and others I have already done so. The list ended up being very long, and I am still adding to it. So, I thought, why not use these verses as the topic for each blog? So, that's what I'm going to do.... and here's the first verse:

"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. 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."
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

In this verse Paul is telling us what God's response was to his pleas for the thorn in his flesh to be removed. According to scripture, there is enough of God's grace (His unmerited divine assistance or favor) to meet our needs, no matter what they may be. When we go through trials in life that test our faith, we should remember that the end result of whatever we are going through will be a demonstration of God's strength. When we are experiencing difficulties, it is so easy to focus on the problem and lose sight of the big picture. During these times it is often difficult to even entertain a positive thought, let alone focus on one. But that is what we have to do in order to pull through.

I think what is difficult for some people (myself included) to grasp is that God is not saying "My grace is sufficient to get you out of this problem right now so you will be comfortable and not need me again until your next problem arises." Surprise! We still have to go through the trial. But we have God's grace and power to get us through it. If, every time we got into a jam, all we had to do was say, "God get me out of this" and he would do it...Then what would He be to us other than someone we used to escape situations we didn't want to experience?

Think about a happy time in your life - a time when everything was going well, and things just seemed be working out for you. Next think about a time when your life was turned upside down, or you found yourself in what seemed to be a never-ending series of unwelcome trials and struggles. Now, looking at each of these experiences, ask yourself when you felt God's presence the strongest. For me, I have seen God do incredible things in my life during times that nothing else seemed to be going right. Don't get me wrong, He does great things when things are going fine too. But the sad truth is that we really start seeking God and calling out to Him when we're down in the dumps. Sometimes when I have a string of really horrible days I think it's God trying to get my attention... like he's saying, "Hey, remember me?" If it takes a bad day to get us to draw closer to God, then I think He's willing to allow some bad days into our lives. After all, He is a jealous God. But that's another verse, and therefore, a topic for another day. :)