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“This is the new me this year,” my friend said. “Healthy eating and I’m even joining the gym.”
I cheered her on.
"And I found a great thing,” she added. “After I juice, I use the pulp to sprinkle on my salads…it’s actually delicious!”
Most discard the pulp, but not her. Instead, she put it to good use. God did the very same with me. When blindness struck at the age of 31, I thought my life was over. I thought I’d be relegated to stay inside my four walls, empty of achievements. And like useless pulp, ready to be dumped in the garbage disposal of life.
Did you ever have moments like that?
Life didn’t turn out like you thought, plans fell apart, and bad times turned your joy to soggy pulp. You were too weak to fight and to down to look up.
At one time or another, we all have experienced this. But when God is in the midst, He uses what little we may have, what flaws we display, what ugliness comes in, or how low we feel. He crafts something deliciously beautiful. That’s because no matter how we try to overcome our own battles and rise above our weaknesses, God is about to turn them into strengths. He uses our weaknesses to make great things. He molds sad circumstances to success. And He turns our losses into gain.
He did that with me. I had asked God to remove my blindness. He didn’t. Instead, He turned my physical blindness into 20/20 spiritual vision.
Paul’s Challenges
In a different way, Paul also encountered adversity, painful and unpleasant, He confessed:
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I 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” (2 Corinthians 12: 8-10 NIV).
Paul delighted in His weaknesses…and God turned them to strength. He endured hardships…God pulled him through. He faced insults and unfairness…God brought about the victory. He was persecuted… God ushered him to freedom.
Where are you in this new year? Facing hard times? Drained by unexpected setbacks? God’s strength is being perfected in your weakness and inside your walls of tough times.
His strength might not be revealed by correcting the situation, but by changing your perspective to see His hand that removes anxiety, erases fear, and calms stressful moments. He’s at work so you can trust. He’s active so you can relax. And He’s crafting the solution that will strengthen your faith.
Let’s Pray: Father, the situation I face has drained my strength and my tears washed away the joy. But I will cling to Your promise that Your power is being made perfect in my every weakness. I shall trust You with every detail, and at every turn, I shall proclaim Your victory. In Jesus’ name.
What strength can you count on today?
Bonus article on today’s topic.
Janet P. Eckles
Igniting Your Passion to Overcome
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