By David ReayMonday 2 Nov 2015LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read 2 Corinthians 11:30-33
30-33 If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I’m not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life. (THE MESSAGE)
Every now and then we see an invitation to a Christian meeting which promises us an inspiring speaker who will tell us how to be a much better follower of Jesus in areas such as parenting, or evangelism, or marriage, or simply victory over sin. We might go to such a meeting and despite the encouraging publicity we may come away discouraged. Why?
Perhaps because that speaker, in their genuine desire to show people the way to victory, has somehow conveyed that he or she is a different sort of mortal. We may go away thinking that we could never measure up to that. We don’t have the breaks he or she had. We tried all that and it hasn’t worked. And we presume that everyone else is going away having their life changed whereas we are uniquely stuck in our rut.
It is so easy to hear someone speak of victory and go away defeated! Perhaps what those who speak at such events need to do is to say upfront that there are no easy answers or slick solutions. That they are fellow strugglers who can yet point a way forward that doesn’t leave others in the ditch or that doesn’t reduce discipleship to a formula.
Paul offers a good example of this. He is only too willing to tell his rather supercilious readers that his life has not been easy and that he often experiences weakness. And yet any of us reading him can come away encouraged. We are not alone in our struggles, and our weakness can be in itself a powerful witness to the power of God.
Blessings
David Reay