When you are a true Christian, you will look much different to the world in many ways. Your life is not your own but belongs to Jesus Christ. There are people out there that profess to be Christian still try to look like the world around them. That includes relying on themselves and the things around them. Sadly, they miss out on what it really means to be in Christ and what it is supposed to be for them. One area of your lives that is different from the rest of the world is the source of our internal strength.

Seemingly a long time ago many people were at least willing to accept that God’s higher power had dominance over their lives. It was a common thing that began to erode by the late 1960s. Within a decade the shift was made from looking to God for a good number of people to self-reliance. So much of world culture has shifted to the idea of self-reliance because it appeals to our carnal nature and wants to be independent.

Christians are not supposed to be self-reliant and independent. They are supposed to rely on God through His son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. This reliance helps us in our everyday activities. It also is something that is there for us when we are weak from various issues and trials in our lives.

In the Bible, the apostle Paul mentions a “thorn in the flesh” that he had in his life. While there was no mention exactly of what it was it could have been anything. We know it was a messenger from Satan, which means it was a reminder of him and his presence, and he prayed three times to have it removed. In regards to this we see something of the Lord’s response to the situation in 2 Corinthians 12:10:

9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. 10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In the very essence of Christian belief, we have these scriptures and many more that show that our strength is in God through Jesus Christ, not ourselves. In Paul’s case he asked for it to be removed but instead He used it to bring the power of His strength to Paul to bear this “thorn” that was causing him distress. That power is to bear it, resist it and overcome what we are dealing with. In Paul’s case through The grace of Jesus Christ, he was able to continually bear the trail he was enduring and do so with Godly strength.

When it’s our own power it falls short on our ability and weakness. When it is God’s power for us, we are drawing of the infinite power He has and all its glory. In those times of weakness and trial we must remember that we are drawing on the very power that holds the whole universe together. There is no greater power we could ever want to deal with those things in our lives.

Remember that for God’s people this is part of the wonderful relationship we have with Him through Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Stephan M. Koenig

Lakeshore Fellowship