Made Strong

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 says, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Last week we talked about being filled with the Holy Spirit and I had this verse in mind. We do not know what Paul was dealing with, which is good because whatever your weakness is, you can insert it in here. What I realised more recently than I’d like to admit is that I used to read this verse wrong. I thought it said, “For when I am weak, then He is strong.” That made sense to me. That when I am weak God is strong but it’s not entirely true. God is always strong whether I am weak or not. This verse challenges us to realise that we are stronger than we think. As children of God, we already have God on our side. Then we take it a step further and we get baptised in the Holy Spirit, and we are equipped and filled with power.

Luke 24:49 says, “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” See the only reason we stay stuck in situations sometimes is because we believe the lies of the devil more than we believe the truth of God’s word. Devil says, “You will always be this way,” and we say, “yeah I guess, so.” No. Circling back to the post from a few weeks ago, we need to come into agreement with the word of God.

If God says where you are weak then you are strong, what does that mean? It means my weakness is an area I have just believed the lies of the devil for far too long and I need to switch teams and believe what God says and allow Holy Spirit to walk me out of this thing. God didn’t create me this way, so I don’t always have to be this way. God didn’t create me broken, life did that to me, but God can put me back together. Whatever it is, we need to come in alignment with God’s word and what He says about us. God gave us Holy Spirit as a gift. God gave Himself to us as a gift. Holy Spirit is here for our benefit, so we are empowered to win in life.

 How could the apostle Paul say where he was weak, he was strong? Because he was able to tap into the strength of the Holy Spirit living within him. In the Passion Translation 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 says, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to relieve me of this. But he answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me.”

We can choose to ignore the Holy Spirit living within us and live weak and powerless lives or we can choose to become more aware of Holy Spirit’s Presence and power living within us and tap into the well that never runs dry and live from that place. It does not happen overnight, but we have to be committed to doing the journey with God. Allowing God to renovate our minds means we get to grow in our trust in God. The more we trust God, the more faith that is released in us that God is going to show up for us in our area of weakness in ways we cannot show up for ourselves.

God is true to His word. Holy Spirit is here for us and He wants to release power into every area of our lives.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.