Endurance Strategies for Hard Times
Training for endurance is not glamorous. No one notices you reading your Bible before work or espouses compliments over the worn-out spots in your carpet from knelt prayers.
Training for endurance is not glamorous. No one notices you reading your Bible before work or espouses compliments over the worn-out spots in your carpet from knelt prayers.
Paul called his disability “a thorn in my flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). The downside of this “thorn” was the awful torment it brought. The benefit was that it kept Paul from being self-sufficient. The pain he endured forced him away from self-serving pride and toward an all-important discovery: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10).
Every parent of a special needs child has more questions than answers. But our Heavenly Father understands and promises His presence. And there’s no question about that.
Having a limitation does not necessarily mean a liability. Paul illustrates five attitudes required for transforming limitations into assets and living and leading victoriously.
Strength in weakness—sounds like an oxymoron. However, when you are weak it is possible to be strong, just as Paul says in 2 Corinthians.
Tragic situations are transformed when God steps in. And He takes the most (seemingly) insignificant things to transform. Underdogs become overcomers, weaknesses turn into strengths, and obstacles are nothing but opportunities that launch significant events.
Contentment is the unknown “X” in life’s equation. Face it. You and I are afraid that if we open the door of contentment, two uninvited guests will rush in: loss of prestige and laziness.
God does His best work in you after you’ve exhausted your own strength. He doesn’t use “super-strong” people. He uses the inadequate and ill equipped, “...for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
From 2 Corinthians 12:2–10, Pastor Chuck Swindoll extracts Paul’s lessons and concludes that God’s grace is not only sufficient, but His power works best in weakness!
Look beyond the tough stuff by remembering that God is working in and through all things—everything. He has a higher good in mind than just our temporal good.