This morning when it was time to leave the room for the day Alan said to me, “Are you ready?”  I chuckled and said that it depended on what definition he meant for ‘ready,’ but assuming he was referring to if I had the things I needed to take with me for the day then, yes, I was ready.  I went on to add though, that if Paul’s words “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10) are still in the Bible then I can readily affirm I am ready to go in any definition of the word ‘ready.’  

     I’ve been thinking about those spontaneous words since then, and they really are quite true.  As we drive to this, our second pastors’ conference, I in no way feel ready, capable or competent to minister to these pastors and their wives.  Despite yesterday’s wonderful assurances from God, it is still I, a frail human being, who must minister in places and ways that are, humanly speaking, beyond my ability.  Yet, as long as “when I am weak, then I am strong” is still in the Bible, I can go ahead to a new place, a new group and new needs, but with the same God and same promises as have carried me in the past.

2 Corinthians 10:12  “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Ephesians 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

2 Corinthians 13:4  For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.

I’m sure God is teaching you this truth as well, or at least He is trying to.  In what area of life do you feel most incompetent?  What seems beyond your control?  Where do you feel overwhelmed?  When it seems God isn’t answering your prayers to take away that which is beyond your human strength or talent, how do you respond?  Seriously think about this truth today and apply it to every area or time where you feel weak.  Let God transform your view of life as this foundational truth sinks into your heart.