If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. 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.
2 Corinthians 12:6-10 New Living Translation (NLT)
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
The fact is that we are all weak. We’re weak in wisdom, weak in strength, and weak in righteousness. Sin has left us weak of heart and hands. It has left us feeble and lame in many ways. But God’s grace makes weakness a thing to be feared no longer. The God of grace who calls you to himself and calls you to live for him blesses you with all the strength you need to do what he’s called you to do. The way to enter into that strength is to admit how little strength you actually have. Grace frees me from being devastated that I can no longer trust me because grace connects me to One who is worthy of my trust and who will always deliver what I need. [Thinking of Pharaoh when the Hebrews were given their freedom in Egypt], “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”
New Morning Mercies (February 17) Paul David Tripp
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:11-13 New International Version (NIV)
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day,
but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
Psalm 22:1-2 NIV
Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
Psalm 22:16-18 NIV
But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Psalm 22:19 NIV
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Romans 3:22-24 NLT
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT