JULY 16, 2013
Hard
Way To Strength
Read: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
My strength is made perfect in weakness. —2 Corinthians 12:9
Diamonds
are beautiful and valuable gemstones, but their beginning is common
carbon—black, dirty, and combustible. Through years of intense heat and high
pressure, they become pure and strong. This makes them a good metaphor for
spiritual strength; God uses intense outside forces to rid us of impurities and
to
perfect His strength in us.
God’s
strength is made perfect in our weakness, says the apostle Paul (2 Cor.
12:9).
I wish this were not true because I hate being weak. Chemotherapy and
radiation
treatments taught me more than I ever wanted to know about physical
weakness.
Then a minor event plunged me into a state of emotional weakness that
caught me
off guard. After losing 3 feet of hair and being bald for nearly a
year, one bad haircut
should not have been a big deal. But it was, and I felt
silly for being so weak. Some
of us are able to create an illusion of strength
and self-sufficiency. But sudden loss
of health, employment, or a treasured
relationship is a startling reminder of our total
dependence on God.
When
we experience the fiery furnace of suffering—whether physical or emotional,
whether persecution from without or humiliation from within—God’s loving
purpose
is to make us pure and strong.
God uses testing in our lives
To rid us of impurity
And teach us that our strength’s in Him
And not in self-sufficiency. —Sper
Suffering is the fire that God uses to purify and strengthen us.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
