REJOICING IN OUR WEAKNESSES AND INADEQUACIES

Do you ever wonder why you are so afflicted with weaknesses and various failings? You might be tempted to think that it’s about your faulty genetic code or the way you were raised or even about your race or ethnicity. But let Scripture assure you that it’s not primarily about any of these, but about teaching you a lesson about yourself and about your Savior:

• But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed... (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

We all need to learn that we are broken vessels, unable to cope effectively with life. However, God intended it this way that we might find our sufficiency only in Him (2 Corinthians 3:5). Our Lord is like an unloved wife, seeking our love by showing us how He can fill our crying needs. However, it seems that He can only accomplish this by revealing to us the depth of our needs, even our hopelessness.

Therefore, “we are afflicted in every way...perplexed...persecuted...struck down.” All of these things are designed to teach us one lesson - we need our Savior every step of the way.

This is not to say that the way we are raised is of no importance, but rather that no matter how we are raised, we will suffer if we want to live for Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12). If we want to be like Him, we must suffer with Him:

• always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)

Even Paul had to be continually given over to death so he could bear fruit for the Lord. Therefore, our afflictions should not be regarded as negatives, as something that we should be ashamed of, but as a necessary tool to shape us into Jesus’ likeness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). But how hard it is to rejoice in the midst of our weaknesses, inadequacies, and failures! This is why we must look towards Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).