For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10b, NIV)
If, from the distance that separates us, I can say anything with certainty about you and your game, it’s this: You don’t like to play bad golf.
I suppose we could make some sort of reaching argument that it’s good to play poorly now and then, so we can learn from our errors and become better players. But when that day actually comes—with its groundballs and chili dips—no one ever says, “Oh, I’m so happy to be playing wretchedly today. It’s just what I’ve been waiting for.”
Rob Moll wrote that we are a “weakness-averse” people. All of us. Unbelievers and believers alike. No doubt, we Christians can start spouting our Christianese: “You know, Jesus suffered more greatly than we ever will, so we really must embrace the bad times as well as the good.” But even if that is true, we have to list it under the Things-That-Sound-Good-In-Principle column. In reality, suffering hurts. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Thorns in the flesh burn so much deeper than that.
And yet, we cannot ignore Paul’s very plain words. After listing the troubles he’d seen, he acknowledged that these unwelcome visitations had a holy purpose. Indeed, he was strengthened in his weakness.
How does this happen? How can a person be made strong in the midst of weakness? Let’s explore two ways this happens.
Grace reminds me of this: God doesn’t think like I do. His plans encompass every heart and every circumstance.Weakness drives us to God. In these prayers, no matter how feeble they sound, we place ourselves in God’s loving care. We are so used to going going going in our culture that we fail to remember how well we can hear when our going is made to cease. Weakness slows us down, forms our prayers, and allows us to hear God’s whisper in our ear.
Weakness directs us to others. While plenty of us can recite Solomon’s wisdom that “when two walk together and one falls, the other is there to lift him up,” we tend not to seek out walking partners until we have already fallen. No one needs a plumber when the water is running clean. So only when sickness comes, do we get to the doctor. Only when relational strife enters our life, do we call a counselor. We know we are stronger in tandem than we are alone. Weakness connects us with those who can help.
When Paul cried out to the Lord for relief from his thorn, God told him that the grace he had given Paul was sufficient for his needs. I confess that my own times of suffering have not made this explanation much clearer. Grace seems an odd salve for the post-op recovery of cancer surgeries or chemo treatments. Nor can I sprinkle a little grace on my belligerent neighbor and hope he goes away. But grace reminds me of this: God doesn’t think like I do. His plans encompass every heart and every circumstance. Grace is a cure, not a Band-aid. And sometimes cures need to work themselves out in the patient who is willing to rest and let them do just that, even if it hurts in the meantime.
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Jeff Hopper
August 13, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.