Receiving God’s Grace
in my Weakness
My power works best in weakness.”
2 CORINTHIANS 12:9 (NLT)
Now as I have grown older I am more aware of my weaknesses and the sin that still exists within me. This has caused me much frustration and shame. Oh, how I identify with the Apostle Paul when he said …
I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.
But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong;
it is sin living in me that does it.
I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right,
I inevitably do what is wrong.
I love God’s law with all my heart.
But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.
This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
Oh, what a miserable person I am!
ROMANS 7:19-24 (NLT)
Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
ROMANS 7:24-25 (NLT)
Well, I have recently learned that true repentance is going before God – admitting my sin, weaknesses and my inability to resolve them in my own power. Instead of turning away from God – I turn to Him because I know that the only resolution to sin will come through His grace, His power and His Strength within me. I trust the words of Paul …
who began the good work within you,
will continue his work until it is finally finished
on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
PHILIPPIANS 1:6 (NLT)
I love it when the Scripture validates my own personal experience. The Apostle Paul was one of the most gifted and influential Christians in recorded history. God used him to firmly establish and expand the early church. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he penned most of the New Testament Epistles. He is regarded by most scholars as one of the strongest examples of a true Christian. Yet Paul had a major weakness.
Paul was given a “thorn” in his flesh. We do not know if this was a physical or an emotional weakness but we do know that he was “tormented” by the “thorn”. He pleaded three times for the “Lord to take it away from me.”
But God’s response was no. God allowed Paul’s torment, his weakness to, remain. God knew that Paul’s weakness kept him dependent upon Him for strength and grace. God also knew that Paul’s weakness spared him from self-dependence and pride because Paul knew how much he needed God’s Grace.
It is no different for us. We need God’s grace. No matter how disappointed we may be in our failures and weaknesses, God is gracious and generous in dispensing His grace to us. Our human frailty is not an affront to Him – “He remembers that we are dust.” The more we lack, the more His grace will fill us.
When we turn to Him, admit our weaknesses and limitations to God, we take the first step toward receiving His all-sufficient grace. No wonder Paul found delight in his weaknesses and difficulties. He knew what when he was weak; God’s grace would make him even stronger. I am so glad to proclaim as Paul did …
so that the power of Christ can work through me.
That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses,
and in the insults, hardships, persecutions,
and troubles that I suffer for Christ.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10 (NLT)
Jan Dravecky
