Strength is made perfect in weakness

This week as we had our "read on your own days" I was reading in the Giver about Jonas. Jonas is assigned a task different than anyone else in their town of perfection. His job is harder than anyone else's job, because he is the one who has to remember all of the good and bad memories of the town. This got me thinking about life and how it is through the struggles in life that we are formed into something greater. If our lived truly were perfect, I don't believer we would ever grow, because there would be nothing to grow into. As I thought about this I began to think about struggles in life, and how if you look at them the right way, you will begin to see them as blessings in disguise.

When you get ready to shoot a bow and arrow you adjust it just right and then stretch the bow back as far as you possibly can, in order for it to fly as far as you want it to fly. I have found that this is exactly what happens in our life, if we allow God to be a part of who we are. The more that we are stretched, the farther we will soar. But being stretched is not the most comfortable position to be put in. We like to feel comfortable, to sit down relax, and know exactly what we have coming our way. However, if we were able to see everything that was going to happen in our lives, we probably would either try to get out of it, or run in the opposite direction. This is why God only gives us exactly what he knows we are able to handle, which is a lot more than we think.

I hate being stretched, during the time that it is happening to me. However, after the situation is over, I realize that it is only because I went through a hard time, that I am able to say that I have gotten to this new place in my walk with the Lord. My story, my life would not be the same without the times that I felt like giving up. It is through the trials in my life, that I have been able to help other people through their struggles that are similar to mine. God somehow always has a way of putting those people in your life. The only thing that we need to stick to when we are in the midst of a struggle is God’s precious word. For in God’s word, truth is held.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But 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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”