Today's Reading:
2 Kings 20:1-22:2
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Psalm 104:31-35
Click on Text Link to Read Online
Focus Verses: 2 Corinthians 12:10
10 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.
Insight:
Most
of us find it difficult to admit weaknesses, let alone delight in them.
Even Paul wasn't really happy about hardships and weaknesses. He cried
out to God asking him to remove them. Paul had learned, however, that
his weaknesses and hardships revealed the evidence of God's grace and
strength in his life.
Paul came to see that his
problems and difficulties were windows for God's grace and strength to
shine through. This gave him a new perspective. He could delight in
weaknesses because God was clearly displayed through them. He could see
his limitations as strengths because they gave witness to God's
strength and provision.
Response and Action:
I
need to recognize my weaknesses and limitations. I need to rely on
God's strength. My reliance on God, my openness about my weaknesses, and
transparency about my problems can be a testimony of God's grace and
power in my life.
O
God, help me to live for you and through you in thought, word, and
deed. Help me to lean on you and look to you for strength. May my
reliance upon your strength, and my humble acknowledgment of my
weakness, be a witness that results in praise to you. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: 1 Corinthians 1:26-27
26 Brothers,
think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise
by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble
birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
Resources:
2 Corinthians: Finding Strength in Weakness
by Paul Stevens
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