Who Can Understand It?

There’s a line by the apostle Paul, where he says that he “rejoices” in his infirmities, his weakness, his failures etc.

In my unsaved days, as I was looking for ways to discount what the Bible says, that was one of the lines that was in my ammo pack. It looked like Christianity made people insane. It looked like Christianity turned people into sadomasochists.

Today, I get it.

Pride is our worst enemy and God takes those whom He has called and uses the hardships of life to pound the pride out of us. He uses the same events to increase the pride of those who are destined for hell. It causes them to believe they don't need God. 

Even when bestowing great mercies upon us, God often follows that up with loss or tragedy just to keep us from thinking that it was we, by our strength who brought that flake of goodness into our lives.

It sounds stupid but our human nature makes it a necessity. For example, I would never admit that I “do good things” to get something from God or to manipulate God into protecting me from something bad. And I believe that’s true. HOWEVER when something pleasant comes my way and I’m thanking God for that perfect gift, the thought always comes into my mind as I’m praying, just a reminder of the “good things I’ve done so of course God would reward me.”

Barf!

The fact is, our greatest spiritual triumphs come most often in our weakest moments. I’m at my worst spiritually when I have a little bit of control over the situation. I’m at my best when the situation is beyond my control and I can just say, “Lord, take this.”

For when I am weak, by the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit, that’s when I’m at my strongest.