Recently I’ve been meditating on the concept of doing things using our own strength versus doing things using the strength of the Lord. To clarify, I have not been questioning the Biblical wisdom of doing things using the strength of God; I learned that lesson long ago that when I try to do things under my own power, it is a frustrating time-consuming endeavor that ultimately falls apart.

Instead what I have been contemplating is the deeper definition behind what exactly doing things using God’s strength actually means, and how I can better understand and use the knowledge.

So in true meditative fashion, we must begin by breaking down first the words themselves and then see what reveals itself. You may have heard it said before (as I have many times) that we are to “chew” on the Word of God daily, well this is how to do it… when you chew on something, you usually take a bigger piece and break it down into more manageable pieces that can be ingested and digested. Well, it’s the same with the Scriptures and the principles there-in. So we will take a piece of scripture, in this case, Accomplishing Tasks Using God’s Strength, and break it down into something we can ingest into our minds, and digest ultimately into our spirit and heart so that we can truly use it and live it.

Now let’s first take a look at the scripture; 2nd Corinthians 2:9-10:

“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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 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.” 

As with most things it is best to begin at the beginning… “My grace is sufficient for you”.

Who is saying this? The Lord… so we can immediately ascertain the following information:

My = the Lord
Grace = favor, mercy, pardon from condemnation.
Is = an affirmative. It is.
Sufficient = Adequate and enough for its intended purpose.
For you = For you and me! God is speaking to us.

The above alone should give us reason for joy and relief from our stresses, yet there is much more from the scripture above. Let’s move ahead…

“For my power is made perfect in weakness.”

This is the key to understanding using the strength of God instead of our strength, so let’s now break this down  and chew on it.

My = The Lord, again.
Power = ability to do or act upon something.
Is  = affirmative.
Made = produced. Brought forth as.
Perfect = Without any flaw.
In  = (abstract) inside.
Weakness = Lack of strength, having infirmity or the inability to do something.

We see from this that the strength of God is brought forth in our weaknesses. Whenever we feel as though we don’t have enough or just can’t take another step or handle another thing, it is then that the strength of the Lord is at its peak. There have been many times, both recent and in the distant past where I have been on the brink of giving up and giving in, and I had to stop right there and pray “Lord I will continue on, yet not under my power, but yours.” And sure enough, He got me through.

Notice the rest of the scripture above; the author states that he will therefore “boast of his weaknesses”. When we go through our hardships with the strength of the Lord, we inevitably come out of it with wonderful testimonies of God’s grace and mercy that we can use to encourage and uplift others in the Lord. And that is a wonderful thing.

So today, let us use the strength of the Lord and not our own strength to accomplish our tasks, and watch and His great power, pulls us through, safely. Amen!

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