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. 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 12:9-10
Suffering is either soon to be knocking at your door, or it has already knocked down your door and has invaded your life. It is inevitable; you will suffer in this world. And when you do, you will likely feel powerless to do anything about it. The mountain will seem too high. The situation will seem too overwhelming. The outlook will seem too bleak. The task will seem too great. In times of weakness like these, we need to remember this: if we trust in our own power, our problems will always seem big. If we trust in the power of Jesus, our problems will always seem small. It would be plausible to lose hope and lose heart when facing things that are too much for us to handle if we were forced to handle them alone. But Jesus has said He will never leave us alone, always supplying the grace we need for the needs we face. He does not promise us a plan to escape our hardships; He promises a power to endure them. A life of power is one that is stripped of self-reliance and replaced with Savior-reliance. A life of power is one in which we acknowledge our need for His help, ask for His help, anticipate His help, accept His help in whatever way He chooses to send it, and act by His help. A life of power is one in which we boast in our weaknesses, gladly enduring them (instead of grumbling about them) because it makes Jesus look good in our lives as His divine strength works in us, for us and through us. With His power, no suffering or struggle or setback or situation can ever overwhelm us as we trust in in the sufficiency of His grace. Therefore, let us abandon trust in ourselves and instead trust in our Savior to empower our next steps into the unexpected, uncertain and unpleasant difficulties of this broken world. Because … With faith all things are not made easy. With faith all things are made possible.
