"When I am weak, then I am strong"

I am going through a Beth Moore study on
the Apostle Paul and she mentioned the
Prosperity Gospel and how it can really
cause people to get mad at God or feel
like they must not have enough faith
when they go through trials in their
lives.

Sometimes we feel like if we are
following God everything will be good
in our lives. We know the Bible
teaches that God will bless obedience
and he will reward those who give.
The thing is, His blessings and
rewards are within His plan for us
and that doesn't always show in our
circumstances. We need to remember
that this is not our true home.
The Bible reminds us to "store up
our treasures in heaven".

These verses by Paul after he had
been given a thorn in his flesh
and begged the Lord to take it
away three different times
speak so clearly to me:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"But he (God) said to me, "My grace
is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore I (Paul) will boast all
the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ's power may rest on
me. 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."

The people who teach that we will
have health and wealth if we follow
Jesus must not understand what Paul
is saying here. This is the man
who persecuted Christians and watched
them die until God blinded him on
a dirt road and changed his life
forever. Paul wrote the majority of
the New Testament and we have a lot
to learn from him.

Whether we follow Jesus or not, we
are going to have good times and hard
times in life. I am thankful that if
I am obediently following Jesus and
hardship comes, I know that God has
allowed it in my life and He will
help me through it. God's purpose
is to bring glory to Himself through
our lives and to make us more like
Him. I am thankful that like Paul, if I
ask God to take the hardship from me
and He doesn't, I will know that
God is going to use the situation to
show His power through my weakness.

Many people say in certain circles
that you shouldn't name your
weaknesses but I say, "When I am
weak, then I am strong because those
are the times that Christ's power
can rest on me."

We just need to keep our eyes focused
on Jesus. God's Word is our truth and
He is our strength!