time to reflect

Ok, so i'm not having any "spirited exploits" today. Have the flu. Yesterday i watched tv all day - that's enough to make one sicker, frankly. So today i brought all my books, Bible and notebooks to bed with me. I look up and watch the 2 black squirrels dashing about the yard - trying to outwit each other for bird seed at the base of my birdfeeder. a good chuckle...
One verse in Scripture has needled me for simply years. I found it again today in a "Closer to my children" journal/reflection book i got from a friend at Christmas. It has a little blurb on a verse and how it applies to parenting. But it got me thinking in a different way about that infernal verse.
Ok, so here's the verse: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9NIV
It has always seemed to be shrouded in mist and mystery to me. Ok, we don't use the word 'sufficient' much. Here are some synonyms: adequate, enough, ample. Definitely not gobs beyond what is needed. enough. Provided to match the need. good start.
THen there's that word...grace.
i get what love is. I understand the idea of faith, but grace? more synonyms...benevolence. THe action of his perfect character on our behalf.
ok, that helps.
So, to recap "My benevolence is enough for you." yeah, i can wrap my pea brain around that. And since God's idea of 'enough' is always generous...that won't be a "barely-scraping-by" kind of enough either, will it?
But the verse goes on to tell us something about our weakness too.
First of all, we all like to be strong. Remember flexing our muscles as kids for our parents to be awed at? Showing people how much we'd grown. Everything about our human nature relishes being strong, capable and able to take care of ourselves. But that's not how God views things.
Oh, he doesn't want us to be snivelling drips. But there is something different going on here.
Remember in your first tree-fort (or was i the only one who had this? come on people!), you and your friends founded a community- well a gang, team partnership sort of thing. One person could draw, another could shoot a slingshot. Everyone had their 'role' in the group. And we felt good about that.
what happened?
Why did we go on to abandon our 'role' and think we had to be everything to everyone? superman or superwoman? kinda weird, isn't it?
But in God's world, we still have that role. We are a branch on God's vine (see John 15:5- I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.") We bear HIS fruit.
Let's go back to the needling verse...
My benevolence is enough for you. My power is made perfect in weakness" When i get out of GOd's way, and am willing to play my 'role' as a good, sap-delivering branch, the power gets used for its real, intended purpose. Fruit bearing.
Am i losing you here? sorry...
When my puny strength gets factored out - his real, limitless power can flow uninterrupted!! So my weakness makes more room for his strength. that's really very neat!
Now Paul wrote this verse because he had some health challenge that made him really weak. He hated it (dont' we all hate that ourselves? the flu? or something more long-term?)
anyway, he asked God to remove it. This needling verse was God's reply. Oh God could have healed him, you betcha. But God figured things would work out better this way.
So the very thing - whether physical, mental, emotional, or whatever that you consider shamefully weak in yourself, might just be the jump-off point for God to swoop into your life and produce some mighty fine fruit! we can ask him to redeem it into something that frees up his flow of power in our lives.
Perhaps my idea of my strength ends up being an obstacle. And while the world applauds (as do i most of the time) acts of independent accomplishment, etc. maybe we as believers and members of God's 'tree fort' club, can get back to our 'roles' and work together to spread this fruit to the nations?
So in the moments of weakness and suffering, ask God to make you wise and to give you His strength to bless, touch and care for others. Use the gifts he gave you - those spiritual gifts with faith that even our tiny bit can become something marvellous when his power tranforms it.
just a thought...