"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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." -2 Corinthians 12:9
This verse is everything.
In every valley and pit that we may ever fall into in our lives, in all our vast misunderstanding; God's understanding is infinite. In all our incapabilities, God is capable of more than all we ask or think or imagine. In all our shortcomings, we have the ability to overcome through the strength that God provides for us. That he willingly and joyfully provides. He delights in being our helper and taking us that extra mile when it's hard for us to take that next step. We do it through
his strength. If you're trying in your own strength, you won't get there. You'll only get frustrated with your circumstances and frustrated with yourself and you'll reach the end of your rope before you've even begun. But it's because we weren't meant to go through this life in our own strength. We are weak and it's because we desperately need the Lord and
his strength.
I was praying last night and was focusing so much on what I didn't know and how I didn't have the answers or the capability to navigate on my own. How I needed wisdom and direction and how I just didn't know how to fix anything. But as I was sitting there feeling empty and inadequate, my focus began to shift and instead of telling God what I couldn't do and how I didn't have the answers, I began thanking him that HE knows the answers. That he has understanding when I don't. When I'm clueless, he is all knowing. When I'm incapable, he is MORE than capable. When I'm weak, he is strong. And suddenly that verse had new meaning for me. It's perfectly okay that I am weak. It's okay to be at my wits end. Because it gives God the chance to be all that I need. When we are nothing, God is everything. This is how it should be all the time. We should constantly be existing in this state of nothingness and denying ourselves so that God is magnified. We get so comfortable being independent, when really we are
desperately dependent, by nature. God created us to desperately need him. It's a gaping hole that will go on desperately being void until we seek and pursue Jesus whole heartedly and allow him to fill that hole. And I woke up today and instead of focusing on my problems and confusion, I thanked God for my inadequacy, because it means I get to rest in him and stop trying so hard. Living life in pursuit of our savior means that we're no longer running this race alone. It means that we have infinite strength in times of weakness. It means that we can actually rejoice during hardships because it's producing in us something greater and it's refining us.
It means we have hope when everything appears lost.
It means that when we have nothing left to give, we can surrender to a God who provides everything we could ever need.
