Strength Made Perfect

"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."

2 Corinthians 12:9

God allowed a messenger of Satan to trouble Paul, for in Paul's weakness God's strength was made perfect.  The grace of God was sufficient for any situation Paul might experience.  In His wisdom, God allowed Paul to suffer - and not without divine purpose.  Through experience Paul knew by God's grace when he was weak, he was strong.  Human weakness, coupled with humble faith in Jesus Christ, promotes supernatural strength for God's glory.

What the world perceives as weakness is sometimes the embodiment of strength.  Life on earth is made to be "survival of the fittest" where the biggest, strongest, and fastest rule.  We are taught to fight for our rights, showing no signs of weakness.  With pride to fuel our attitudes and motivated by envy, humans learn how to manipulate others to gain advantage.  When faced with the wild popularity of Jesus Christ, the leading religious leaders of the Jews sought to kill Him.  They used lies, the power of politics, and an angry mob to achieve their ends.  Jesus silently walked in obedience to the will of the Father, meekly laying down His life as a sacrifice for sin.  As the Pharisees gloated and scorned Christ as He bled out on Calvary, the One who was beaten, stripped, and pierced was the picture of strength and divine power.  Given the circumstances, no one at the time could have realised that.

The priests and Pharisees believed they had triumphed.  Satan too thought the power of the grave was enough to overcome Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Three days after being crucified, Jesus Christ changed everything when He rose from the dead.  The Lamb had risen; the Lion of the Tribe of Judah had triumphed after all!  Not only is God's strength made perfect through weakness, but often what appears weak to the world is a demonstration of divine strength.  Though it may marvel, the world cannot understand.  There is none stronger than God, revealed in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  When a person is born again through repentance and faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and bears fruit.  Galatians 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."  If a poll was taken of the best character attributes to succeed in a profession or business, I suspect not one of these fruits would appear in the top 10.  Do loving or gentle lawyers make the cut primarily for their love or gentleness?  Are construction workers filled with joy or peace the ones promoted?  Are musicians chosen for gigs because of their patience or self-control?

The fruit of the Spirit to the world on the surface appears weak, even pathetic.  But it is through the leading of the Holy Spirit real strength is demonstrated.  True strength comes from God.  Through faith in Him our weakness gives release to strength made perfect.  May the power of Christ rest upon us!

The Gift of Pineapple

Last evening I returned with Abel from a week spent speaking at a primary camp hosted at Camp Kedron.  "Fruit" was the theme, and it was amazing how many great activities the kids enjoyed.  We all learned a lot about fruit, and more importantly I trust everyone learned a lot more about God.  I did!

One incident summed up the grace of God demonstrated through the camp perfectly.  Before each session, I shared some interesting "fruit facts" with the kids.  I am no botanical expert, but I did spend literally hours scanning articles and websites to learn more about various fruit.  One day I brought a pineapple, also called the "King of Fruit."  I showed them how the crown can be twisted off, dried, and planted to grow a new pineapple plant.  It is not a single fruit but a sorosis, a multiple fruit where the flowers grow flesh and are pressed closely together.  I pointed out the leaves at the bottom of the pineapple, that when picking one out you want to see those leaves are green.  This shows the pineapple is very fresh.  After talking about the pineapple for a minute or two, I put it aside and continued with the talk.

The next day during break, a particular girl's cabin expressed their interest to eat that pineapple.  I decided the next morning to take the pineapple to chef Phil and ask if I might use the kitchen facilities to cut it up.  He generously volunteered to cut it for me.  As he began to cut off the outer skin, it became evident the heat had not been kind to the pineapple.  Brown splotches had spread throughout the pineapple because it was overripe and going bad.  We arrived to an immediate consensus:  the pineapple was good only for compost.  "Oh well," I said.  "I'll just tell them the pineapple was not good."  Without a word, Phil walked a few steps and from somewhere pulled out a different, fresh pineapple.  He quickly sliced through the pineapple, and it looked great!  He cubed the yellow flesh and presented it beautifully on a platter, with the crown displayed artistically at the top.

During morning tea, I sought out the girls who had asked for the pineapple and handed them the platter.  They were very thankful, appreciative, and apparently hungry - those seven or eight girls ate the entire thing!  It was a lovely illustration of the faithfulness of God.  My pineapple was brown and rotten, yet I was given a delicious pineapple to share that many people enjoyed.  During camp at times I felt a bit lousy with a cold, yet God gave me the strength to speak and press on.  In my flesh no good thing dwells, like that brown, nasty pineapple.  Yet God, by His grace, gave me and the other leaders words to say from the scripture that bring new life and promote health.  I had nothing to offer, but God generously supplied all our needs.

I am thankful to God for all He has done at Camp Kedron, and know He will complete the work He has begun.  When God exchanges His good for our rottenness, let us share it freely with others for His glory.  Thanks Phil for the lesson!  Who would have thought God could use a couple of dumb pineapples to teach life-changing lessons?

Cross Over Jordan

God sees the big picture.  This is quite the opposite of man, whose tendency leans towards self-focus and immediate gratification.  Our physical eyes may have "perfect" vision, yet we can be spiritually shortsighted to the point of blindness.  To enter in to all God has for us requires us to trust Him.  We must be convinced He intimately knows us, our needs, and what is best.

After God led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, He intended to bring them into the land He promised to give them.  When they arrived at the doorstep of Canaan, they sent spies into the land for 40 days.  10 out of 12 brought an evil report of the land.  They acknowledged it was a good land but there were giants and massive strongholds.  In their shortsightedness they looked at the giants and their own relative physical stature and strength rather than the power of God who had done mighty wonders to miraculously deliver them from Egypt.  The people cried and wished they had never left Egypt.  Because of the unbelief of that generation, God forbade them to enter the land.  The two spies who gave a good report and urged the people to trust God who would grant them certain victory, Joshua and Caleb, were the only people from that generation who entered into the land 40 years later.

For 40 years, a year for a day, God led the people through the wilderness.  Finally, the day came when it was time to cross over the Jordan River and enter into the Promised Land.  As they made ready to cross over, the children of Ruben, Gad, and Manasseh talked amongst themselves.  The land on the east side of the Jordan was good land for cattle, and they had much cattle!  Numbers 32 speaks of how they approached Moses and asked politely to be given the land west of Jordan for their inheritance instead of passing over.  They saw goodness of the land and thought, "Man, it doesn't get much better than this!  We would be content to stay right here!"  God, in His mercy and grace, heeded their request and gave them the land.  If they did not want to enter into the land, He would not force them.  He blessed them, despite their unbelief.

Yes, unbelief.  This is the same shortsighted unbelief that can strike the hearts and minds of Christian today.  As we follow Christ, contentment in every situation is something God teaches us.  But we can grow comfortable in our surroundings and be unmotivated to take the next step of faith.  Hey, if God is blessing me on this side of the Jordan, what's the point of crossing over?  Can it get any better than this?  We have cattle and this land is good land for cattle.  Can't I just stay right here, God?  As we see in the text, sometimes God says yes.  But it is always a terrible tragedy when God's people think they know better than God.  To politely decline an inheritance in the Land of Promise because you prefer the grazing where you are - without any knowledge of what God has in store for you - is foolish!

Believers, it gets better.  When we think we have tapped out how good God is, He raises the bar exponentially.  The only way we will know and experience all God has for us is walking by faith, not by sight.  If God has an inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, do not be content to stay on the west side - even if you have cattle and it is good land for cattle.  Where God is leading you is where you should go.  Doesn't God know what cattle need?  More importantly, doesn't God know what you need?  Doesn't He know best?  Since He has purchased and redeemed us for Himself, let us go where He leads.  Should God lead you over Jordan, cross over!

God is Good No Matter What

It is good to be reminded that God is in control.  In good times and bad, God stands at the helm of the circumstances of our lives.  He rules and reigns, sovereign over all.  It is common for a Christian to attribute what we see as good and beneficial as Divine Providence blessing us, and when trials or difficulties come it is seen as an attack of Satan.  While it is true Satan is alive and well on planet earth, that he seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, he is not to blame for anything we perceive as "bad" which happens to us.  God's sovereignty is not only what we perceive as good, but also has control over what we see as inconvenient, troubling, and even fiery trials.

Do you struggle that God allows both good and evil in the world?  He allows even His own children to suffer greatly at the hands of sinners.  A reason why God's sovereignty is hard for us to comprehend can be our own unbelief.  We look at tragedies, obstacles, even delays, and wonder what could possibly be good about them.  There is nothing good about sin, and the world is steeped in it.  Because we do not see good in the circumstances, we figure there must be a sinister purpose behind them - something other than God.  This is the view from the flesh, a view that does not hold God as all powerful, righteous, and good.  The fact that God has the power to change our circumstances and at times chooses not to is a tablet (pill) that sticks in unbelieving throats.  Yet God wants my thinking to change concerning His character and the things He allows.  He is able to take the most obscene, horrendous evil and make it work for good.  How He does this I cannot say, but I am convinced by scripture this is exactly what He does every time.  God wants to bring us to a place where we trust Him because we know Him, not because we think He has made our lives easier or better.

Romans 8:28 says with unflinching, bold confidence:  "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."  If we are in Christ, He can use our wretched past and uncertain future for our good and His glory.  Instead of seeing everything advantageous as a blessing and delays or trials as enemy assaults, let us rejoice knowing our Father sits on the throne.  There are blessings in both what we perceive as good or bad.  Since we aren't God, we won't fully understand His ways or thoughts.  But on the foundation of scripture we stand strong in belief in God's righteousness, goodness, and unfailing love.  No matter what we face, God is good.  In a world that has forsaken God, let us seek refuge in the One who will never leave or forsake us!