Hammer on Anvil '

He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Sometimes, in the flurry of daily activity, I lose sight of this precious promise. When I was younger, for example, I remember telling God I was simply too busy to be sick. I had too many responsibilities, and apparently my presence was indispensable. Such arrogance!

The past two weeks, I have been living on this Scripture. After mowing our rather bumpy one-acre lawn a couple weeks ago, something happened to my back. The morning after mowing, I could barely walk, and my husband promptly took me to see the chiropractor. I am a natural sort of girl, and would much prefer a chiropractic adjustment to invasive medical intervention.

As I was walking from the consultation room to proceed to the treatment room, a severe spasm nearly sent me to the floor. The pain was excruciating, and I grabbed onto the door jamb with both hands to keep from falling. Fortunately my husband and the chiropractor were on each side of me, and they gently escorted me to the next room.

Nobody in their right mind likes to be in pain. But I am learning to cherish it. God uses pain sometimes to say, "It's not about you, remember? It's about My strength being made perfect in your weakness." It's not the end of the world if I can't go here and there as I choose. When I can do little else because of physical incapacitation, I can always pray. And last week as I was stretched out in my recliner, icing my back, God reminded me in a very beautiful, personal way to cherish those "down times" that allow me ample time for intercession.

I love what Oswald Chambers says:

Most of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain; we sit down on the threshold of God’s purpose and die away of self-pity, and all so called Christian sympathy will aid us to our death bed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, and says – “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine."

This is a very real dynamic. It's tempting to fall into self-pity when we are suffering, and sometimes well-meaning Christian friends engage in that pity with us, instead of reminding us that it is an occasion for God to demonstrate His power. But God reaches out and beckons us, "Enter into fellowship with Me."

God's Word promises that, if I boast in my weaknesses, the power of Christ will rest on me. I'll take that, thank you.