"Whatever brings you to your knees in weakness carries the greatest potential for your personal success and spiritual victory"

"When I am weak, then I am strong."  These words, taken from Paul's writings in 2 Corinthians, bring thoughts of contradiction.  How can we be strong, when we are weak?  How can we function, when it feels as though our world will break and fall apart?  Shouldn't we try to hold everything together, not letting anything slip beyond our control, our rescue, or our grasp?

. . . . . . . None of us can escape the pressures of life.  Most of us know what it feels like to be disappointed.  We know the painfulness of embarrassment, the sting of rejection, and the sorrow of failure.  Regardless of the level of control we have over our lives, there always comes a time when the stove top settings end up on high and lids come boiling off the pots and pans.

. . . . . . . Regardless of what your situation is, you can trust this principle:  Whatever brings you to your knees in weakness carries the greatest potential for your personal success and spiritual victory.

No one enjoys feeling weak, whether it is emotionally, spiritually, or physically.  There is something within the human spirit that wants to resist the thought of weakness.  Many times this is nothing more than our human pride at work.  Just as weakness carries a great potential for strength, pride carries an equally great potential for defeat.  It cannot co-exist with God's Spirit of love and humility.  Pride was Satan's downfall, and it is the one element that must be removed if we want to experience the peace that comes from an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

Paul learned a valuable lesson in this area.  God allowed him to be buffeted by a severe trial in order to humble him and remove the potential for pride.  (2 Corinthians 12:7)  As a young man he was trained by one of the greatest scholars in Jewish thought and culture.  He understood the elements of the law and practiced them with zeal.  Yet when he came fact to face with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road his life was changed.  He no longer viewed the world around him through human eyes.  God gave him spiritual insight that far surpassed anything he had known.

Still, he had to be broken further so that he could be used in an even greater way by God.  Like everyone else, Paul faced temptation.  He was not spared affliction.  One in particular was severe enough for him to pray three times for its removal.  Later, he recorded its existence in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

It was through this time of weakness that Paul learned a new principle:  weakness is strength.  Frailty in a certain area is not something that should bring embarrassment.  When we are humbled before God, He sees the meekness of our hearts and sends his strength and blessings into our lives.

Even though Paul could have listed many personal accomplishments, he chose to tell his audience what he believed was the key to experiencing a victorious life. and that was in accepting his weakness so that the strength of Christ might live fully in him.  He was writing about living a completely surrendered life to Jesus Christ.  "I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me" (v.9).

We are called to be strong in Christ.  Our strength is not within ourselves or our ability.  It is in Christ who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:19) God knows until we come to the end of ourselves there is little chance we will turn over the reins of our lives to Him.  He has given you a limited free will.  This means that at any time He can step in and put a stop to a problem or a certain course you have chosen to take.  Many times, He does not do this because He wants you to see that on your own you will struggle and fall, but in Him you will have strength and victory."

.......When we accept our weaknesses and that fact that we cannot handle them on our own, God goes to work.  He sends encouragement and a sense of creativity, helping you to try new avenues that lead to hope and fresh beginnings.

excerpted from difficulties/weakness/intouch ministries