We spent a lot of time studying the critical importance of complete dependence upon God in the study of the attitudes of Jesus; that is, being poor in spirit. Independence from God wrecks our life. Thus, if God uses affliction to bring us back to the same complete dependence we needed for salvation, this is a reason to be grateful!
A thankful heart that is surrounded by steep and dangerous cliffs, lions and bears, is grateful to run to the safety of the shepherd for protection.
The apostle Paul was a highly gifted man. He was a man unto whom God had given incredible intellect and influence. Paul, like us, struggled with the temptation to get away from God and to depend upon himself. The apostle Paul had been taken into the third Heaven where he saw sacred secrets—things not lawful for a man to utter. God pulled back the veil and Paul described it as “I don’t know whether I was going in the spirit or whether my literal body went to Heaven.” (2 Corinthians 11:3) He went on to say:
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
The word “thorn in the flesh” literally means, not a thorn like a rose bush, but a “stake.” Paul describes his impairment as being impaled upon a stake. He describes a “messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” He also describes how he begged God to take the infirmity. But God said, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” You might be saying, “Now wait a minute, why would God do this cruel thing to Paul? Is God barbaric?” Well, if you didn’t know God, that might be a fair accusation. But Paul knew God. So Paul had a remarkable response:
“Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities. I will glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Paul knew God and he knew himself. He knew his greatest strength could become his greatest weakness if it were not under the control of God.
What do you consider YOUR greatest strength? Is it your intellect, your money, your personality, your power, your beauty? No, my friend, your greatest strength is not any of these things.
Our greatest strength is found only in God. When we depend upon ourselves in ANY area of our life, it often takes a lion or a bear to bring us back to dependence upon our Great Shepherd.
Over and over again, God has used difficult circumstances to increase my dependence upon him. For example, last year, all my employees left at the same time. Most of them went to work for another attorney, a recently retired judge and the brother of my office manager.
Can you imagine going into a doctor’s office where the doctor is answering the phone, paying the bills, triaging the patients, running the front desk, and trying to practice medicine? That was the situation in my office. Although I had hired new people, none of them knew anything about the practice of law. I was on my knees praying, “Lord, if you don’t want me to practice just show me and I’ll do something different. This is just too much! I can’t do this.” I was staggered by the thought of starting over. Finally, I just gave it all over to Him. From that day forward, one of my daily prayers has been: “Lord, this law practice is not mine; it’s yours.”
And you know what? God’s better at the practice of law than I am. 😳🙄
Why does that surprise me? Well, the more I depend upon God in the practice of law, the greater my success. This phenomenon has caused me to give other areas of my life to God. I often pray, “Lord, I give you my home, my bank accounts, my time, and everything you have given me to steward. You gave it to me and it’s still Yours”
My friend, when our attitude is that everything we have been given belongs to God, we are truly free to serve Him.
This includes both our resources and our time. It includes our love. We serve what we love. God is constantly blessing us. But those blessings become a curse if we use them to become independent from Him. If we are thankful for trouble, it will bring us back to dependency upon Him.
If your trouble, your heartache, your tears, your difficulty, your pain, or your anguish causes you to depend more upon God, then this is a great reason to develop an even more thankful heart!
