“…when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2 Corinthians 12:10b

The wisdom of God is far beyond anything we can comprehend, therefore His answers to our prayers can be very different from what a human mind would expect. Lately Ephesians 1:12 has been one of my prayers for others as well as myself: “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better.” As a result, I expected to see more of God’s glory in the Word, to be more aware of His working in the world and to see more of His greatness in creation. That, however, is not what happened.

First God began to point out how much I was relying on my own goodness, my own experience, my own spiritual insight—and then how inadequate these are. It was in just simple things, like my response to a disparaging remark, triggering a sinful attitude of mine: I reacted strongly, defending myself.

At the bottom of each such incident was the same thing: failure to believe the Word of God. On one side, I was rejecting the fact of my natural depravity. And on the other side, I was not resting in the truth that I am a son of the Most High God, chosen before the foundation of the world, cleansed, accepted, assigned to significant work, and dearly loved. Why should I be upset at some mere human being’s insult, especially when it pinpoints an actual sin in my life? The problem is I can’t seem to remember these truths very well at the moment of impact!

But God is faithful to persist in bringing us to our senses, teaching us the same thing over and over until we grasp the truth needed. I am thankful for his persistence and patience. Helping me to let go of what other’s think was just the first revelation. Step two tomorrow.

Picture: set free

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