II Cor 12:7 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. 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 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.
The mystery of human suffering will not be solved completely in this life. Sometimes we suffer simply because we are human. Our bodies change as we grow older, and we are susceptible to the normal problems of life. The same body that can bring us pleasures can also bring us pains. The same family members and friends that delight us can also break our hearts.
These are the undeniable and unavoidable realities of this life that each and everyone of us will experience, and although there are undeniable and unavoidable challenges that we will all face there is also a promise that God has given to us, that He will give us the power to overcome!
The first thing that I believe is important for us to understand is why do you and I have challenging times.
- God uses challenging times to correct us
Sometimes when we make bad decisions or allow ourselves to get trapped in sin, God will allow a challenging time to correct us or discipline us.
In 2 Sam 12 we have the account of David when he sinned with Bathsheba and the consequences that followed.
God used a challenging season in David’s life to correct him because of the sin that he got involved in. (The challenging season led to repentance and a powerful Psalm that all of us are familiar with today Psalm 51)
- God uses challenging times to perfect us
Challenging times don’t always come because of what you’ve done wrong, but many times challenging times come because of what you are doing right.
Paul and Silas In acts 16 were locked in a prison for setting a young girl free from an evil spirit, but the prison didn’t hurt them, the prison was perfecting them.
James 1: 2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
When you walk along the shore of the ocean, you notice that the rocks are sharp in the quiet coves, but polished in those places where the waves beat against them. God can use the “waves and billows” of life to polish us, if we will let Him.
- God uses challenging times to protect us
And the last reason why you and I experience challenging times in this life is because God is protecting us.
II Cor 12:7 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.
If Paul would’ve allowed his success to puff up his ego causing him to become proud, then the next 14 years of his life would not have been effective and successful, so God allowed him to experience some trials that would keep him humble and totally dependent upon the God that loved him and still had so much more for His life.
God Promises Power for the trial
There are different ways that each of us respond to times of trial:
When God permits suffering to come to our lives, there are several ways we can deal with it. Some people become bitter and blame God for robbing them of freedom and pleasure. Others just “give up” and fail to get any blessing out of the experience because they will not put any courage into the experience. Still others grit their teeth and put on a brave front, determined to “endure to the very end.” While this is a courageous response, it usually drains them of the strength needed for daily living; and after a time, they may collapse.
Today I want us to be remined of the promise that God has given us, so that we can effectively overcome times of trial.
II Cor 12 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
God promises Grace and God promises power
Grace – Undeserved and Unmerited Favor, kindness to be highly favored as in the presence of your best friend.
Power – Dunamis where we get our English dynamite – supernatural capacity to accomplish a specific task, physical strength, special ability, special capacity.
- Small defensive walls and a main defensive wall
- Military congregation as a large fighting unit.
So what God was telling Paul when you face the most trying times of life be assured that you have a best friend with you that has released such an abundant amount of favor and kindness that nothing evil will be able to affect you.
You also have a Dunamis, dynamite like power that enables you to walk with a supernatural capacity and strength accompanied with an army of heavens angelic host’s that formulate walls of defense all around you.
God had to have this conversation with Paul 3 times.
Paul had just told us that he had revelations of a dimension of heaven that he could not even be explained in words.
But when it came to the promise of grace and power in time of trial Paul needed it to be explained 3 times.
Why its easy to receive revelation when everything is going well, but its hard to get understanding when all hell is breaking out!
When sickness has inflicted your body its hard to receive understanding of the supernatural that is available to us
When financial stress has overwhelmed us and our families it is hard to get our minds out of the natural and into the supernatural.
Paul wanted to hear God say “I will take it all away and make everything ok.”
God didn’t tell Paul what he wanted to hear, so Paul had to dig in a little deeper to get a better understanding of what God was saying.
Many times when we don’t hear what we want to hear we walk away taking matters into our own hands, missing out on the greatest truth that will set us up for the greatest breakthrough’s and highest levels of success we could ever experience.
When the trials of life come knocking on our door, God desires us to dig in a second and third time so that we can discover the grace of God and the power of God that is available to give us the highest level of Christianity that anyone can experience.
The level of Christianity that is needed in our world today.
After the third time Paul finally understood, so he stopped asking God to take it away and started embracing the benefit of being in that season.
II Cor 12:8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 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. 10 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.
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