For when I am weak, then I am strong

2 Corinthians 12:10 " 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"
The literal translation of this verse adds a startling emphasis to it, allowing it to speak for itself with power we have probably never realized. It is as follows, "Therefore, I take pleasure in being without strength, being insulted, experiencing emergencies, and being chased and forced into a corner for Christ's sake; for when I am without strength, I am dynamite."
The secret of knowing God's complete sufficiency is in coming to the end of everything in ourselves, and our circumstances. Once we reach this point, we will begin to recognize the difficult things as the thing that God uses to draw us closer to Him..the thing that teaches us to trust Him, the thing that helps us to draw from His strength..the thing that calms our own emotions, and takes us to the stream of living water to drink from. A dear friend recently sent me an email called "God's Cake"..It talked about the fact that when you bake a cake, and you add each ingredient..the flour, the eggs, the baking soda, the oil..you wouldn't want to taste or eat any of those ingredients by themselves..ugh! That would taste awful! But..when you put all of those ingredients together and put them in a hot oven, and allow them to bake..a beautiful, sweet cake comes out and it tastes wonderful.
Beloved, if most of us took the ingredients that have gone into our lives apart, one by one, we would wonder how that awful ingredient could ever be used to make something beautiful. The trials, the difficulties, the temptations, the sorrow, the frustrations..all seem in and of themselves to not lend to anything good..but child of God..they do..These ingredients, when added together are what make up the beautiful person that you are..they are the wonderful ingredients that God has blended together to make wonderful you. Our difficult circumstances are the very thing that help us to turn to God, realizing that they are often the evidence of His working in our life.
A well known preacher from Scotland named George Matheson, who was blind, once said, "My dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses, but never for my thorns." Wow...my prayer for all of us today is..Teach us Lord to glory IN YOU..teach us the value of our thorns. Make your presence known to us along the path that we walk, and let us always see that it is through the tears we cry, that we always see the rainbows."
Everyone have a great weekend.