GLORYING IN INFIRMITIES!

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV)

The apostle seems to have enjoyed wonderful revelations of God. Not once or twice, but often he beheld things that eye hath not seen, and heard words that ear cannot receive, and God felt it was necessary for him to have a infirmity lest he should be exalted beyond measure (2 Corinthians 12:7).

What the thorn or stake in the flesh was it is impossible to say with certainty. He may have suffered from some distressing form of eye disorder. We infer this from the eagerness of the Galatian converts to give him their eyes (Galatians4:13-17), and from his dependence on an amanuensis, a secretary. His pain made him very conscious of weakness, and very sensitive of infirmity, and kept him near to the majority of those to whom he ministered, who did not live on the mountain heights, but in the valleys, where demons possess and worry the afflicted. Be willing that your visions of paradise should be transient, and turn your back on the mountain summit, where the glory shines, as our Lord did, in order to minister to souls in anguish (2 Corinthians 12:4; Matthew 17:14-18).

On three separate occasions the apostle besought the Lord for deliverance from his infirmity, and finally received the assurance that though the thorn could not be removed, yet sufficient grace would be given to enable him to do his life work, and he was more than content. On the one hand, there was the buffeting of this messenger of Satan; but on the other, there were the gains of meekness, humility, and of greater grace than would have been possible if he had not needed it so sorely. So he gladly accepted an infirmity for which there were such abundant compensations.

Do not sit down baffled by your difficulties and infirmities, but run from them to claim Christ's abundant grace and strength, that at the end of life you may have done all that was appointed for you to do, and more, because the greatness of your need made you lean more heavily on His infinite resources. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength."

PRAYER

Help us, Lord, to look on the bright side of things; not on the dark cloud, but on Your rainbow of covenant mercy; not on the stormy waters, but on the face of Jesus; not on what You have taken, or withheld, but on what You have left. Enable us to realize Your all sufficiency in Christ. In His name I ask it, AMEN.

God's Daily Promise

Promise #156:
I love you as deeply as a father loves his children.

Psalm 103:13 (WEB)
Like a father has compassion on his children,
so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.