Feel helpless? Hopeless? It may be a good thing.

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Isaiah 8:1–9:21 
2 Corinthians 12:1-10 
Psalm 55:1-23 
Proverbs 23:4-5

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV) "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Over and over, the reflective reader of Scripture will be reminded that Christianity is often counter-intuitive. It goes against what we have come to think is normal and natural.

Our Verse for Today is a case in point. Ordinarily, we don't like it when times get tough and we feel helpless ... and maybe, hopeless. No one likes those kinds of situations and feelings.

Yet, the Apostle Paul told the Christians in Corinth that he was content to be put in situations where he felt like there was nothing he could do. Why? Because it was in those times that he discovered that the only thing he had (Jesus) was the only thing he needed.

When life is going well, we tend to depend upon ourselves. Our prayerlessness testifies to the fact that we aren't depending upon the Lord as we should.

Yet, when life gets tough and we have nowhere to look but up, we are positioned well to experience God's power in us. Whether He gives us wisdom, or courage, or peace, or whatever it is that we need in those moments, it often takes times of intense trial to drop us to our knees and depend upon the Lord.

Oftentimes, if you ask a Christian who seems to have a serious, deep walk with the Lord how they got to their high level of spiritual maturity, they will often point you back to a very dark time in their life when they had nothing but Jesus. It was that time that God used to set them on a journey of spiritual growth and vitality.

Do you want to grow in your walk with the Lord? If so, then look for God to bring trials into your life. Don't get upset at Him. Don't question Him. Accept the trials as a gift from Him to develop spiritual growth in your heart. One day, you will look back in deep gratitude for what God did in your life.

2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV) "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."