God's Strength Made Complete

Confidence in the goodness of God and His sovereignty is a key factor in us experiencing the rest and abundant life graciously offered by Jesus Christ.  Paul expressed great confidence all Christians ought to have in Romans 8:28:  "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  Because God is almighty, a Redeemer and faithful, we are assured on the basis of His glorious deity His good purposes can be furthered in what we can only see as bad circumstances in this life.

Since God has revealed Himself to us in truth, having provided His Word and the Holy Spirit, we know one of His purposes is our sanctification:  for us to be set apart for Him and submit to being made more like Him continually in thought, word and deed.  Another purpose God has in saving us and adopting us into His family by the Gospel is to make us spiritually fruitful.  We have been created for the purpose of bringing glory to God, and Jesus said to His disciples in John 15:8, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."  Our LORD is not content with foliage or occasional fruit but that we would bear much fruit by the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.

In light of these things, I have arrived at conclusions I am convinced of and need to continue processing personally.  The very situation I see as bad and want God to change for the better is the very situation God can use to change me for the better.  The other person I want God to change is the person God can use to sanctify me further.  The conditions I suffer and pray for God to take from me can be used by God to make me more fruitful for His glory.  The process of sanctification God employs is gentle, timely (though it will take the remainder of our lives on earth) and perfectly weighted to accomplish His refining purposes--even when I shrink from His pruning shears or the heat of the crucible of affliction that refines believers as gold.

Knowing this to be true, we can arrive at the conclusion Paul did after God rejected his request for the LORD to stop and silence the messenger of Satan who buffeted him.  Made courageous by faith in the living, good God, Paul shared in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:  "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. ¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  In all our infirmities, God's strength is made perfect or complete in us by God's grace.  Our infirmities, diseases, disasters, pressures, and needs are made for us a potential delight, for in Christ we can enjoy His strength accomplishing in and through our lives incredible good we could never experience alone.