Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

7 Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 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.

Thoughts

If you are anything like me, you are reading a lot of articles and posts about the Coronavirus. And you are probably trying to figure out your level of concern. What’s not enough concern? What’s too much concern, leading to panic? You may also have friends and relatives who are more vulnerable. With all of that, there is kind of this palpable weight on us. It’s like an emotional presence, kind of lurking in the background of your thoughts at all times, even when you aren’t really thinking about it.

In moments like these, it is even more important to be connected with our Heavenly Father. Because of this, we’ve decided to write some daily devotionals in an effort to help us all keep grounded in God’s word. Also, if you want to leave comments, it can be a way we can keep practicing community even when we aren’t able to meet in person.

The passage I chose today is one I turn to often in times like this. His grace is sufficient. Paul gets very vulnerable here in this passage and shares about an area of weakness, where’s God’s answer to him wasn’t, “Let me fix this.” It was “lean into my grace more.” During these times of unease, fear, and insecurity, we can lean into God’s grace. We lean into his strength.

Many of us feel weak right now. We feel helpless. We feel out of control. Rather than sinking into those feelings, we lean into God’s grace. Paul learned that in times of weakness, he often felt stronger, because “God’s power was made perfect” in him. I’m not sure I know exactly how that works, but in my life I find that God’s power is made perfect, because when I’m weak I actually stop leaning on my power, and lean on his instead.

It’s almost like weakness acts as a filter to remove my self reliance, and focus me more intentionally on the power of God holding me up. Or, another illustration: When my kids were young I’d walk with them holding their hand.  They thought they were just walking in their own power….until they tripped. Until weakness and helplessness hit. Then what happened? I held them up. In that moment of weakness, they found the strength of their father upholding them.

Today, take some time to step away and be alone with God, and make this your meditation. See God holding your hand. See God’s grace being sufficient for you. See God’s strength made perfect in your weakness. And remember to lean into God’s grace in this time of weakness.