Be Strong In Jesus

Be Strong In Jesus

"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."
2nd Corinthians 12:10

We can see many scriptures in the Bible teaching us things that go completely against the views of the world. For example "You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 6:24, or "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1st John 2:15 However, the scripture for today's devotional goes even a step further, as Paul is telling us that we should delight in all the difficulties that we face each day. I know it is hard to see how we could be glad that we have sickness that destroys our health, or have financial problems that wipes out our money and wealth, or have relationship issues that destroys our friendships, or have all the other difficulties and problems that we face each day. However when we look at some of the teachings of Jesus, we see that he tells us "And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:27 He gives us another example where the rich man came to Jesus, and was told to give up everything he owned and follow Jesus, but he refused and left sad. The message that God wants us to get is that we live in a world that promotes our self centeredness, our self gratification, our need for material possessions. We want to be comfortable, feel satisfied, and have nothing that will take away our joy and happiness. If we lived in a world like this, it would be almost like heaven, as there would be no pain, no worry, no pressure, or nothing that would cause us grief of any kind. There would be no reason for any of us to turn to God for anything, as we would be self sufficient and not want for anything. However, we don't live in this kind of world. When we have health problems, we see just how frail our life can really be as it can be taken away so quickly. When we have financial problems, we see just how quickly our wealth, our money and all our material possession can disappear overnight. When we have relationship issues with family or friends, we can see just how easy other people can turn against us. All of the problems we face during our lives should be a constant reminder to let us see just how easy our safe and secure worlds can fall apart, and make us realize that we cannot handle everything on our own. Through all the struggles and trials we face daily, we quickly discover just how weak and fragile we really are. It is only when we face these difficulties in our lives that often we turn to God, as this is the time where He can show His strength and might, and demonstrate to us just how weak we really are. This is the message that Paul is trying to show us, as he learned that when he was weak, that this was the time when God could work in a powerful way through him. It is through our times of difficulties, problems and struggles in life that God can really demonstrate just how much we need Him. It is during our times of weakness that we realize that we have very little control over what goes on in our lives, but rather that God has complete control of everything. If you are going through a tough time with your health, your finances, your relationships, or some other problem today, stop complaining about your circumstances, regardless of how painful they may be, and turn them over to God. Allow yourself to be weak, and dependent on Jesus, who will show you just how strong and able He is to help carry your burdens for you.