Proclamation:
“Therefore,
in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a
messenger from Satan, to torment me.
Three times I pleaded with The Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient
for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’” 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV)
Explanation:
These
words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit
of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth. Paul begins this chapter defending his
apostleship by boasting about the vision he was favored with. (2 Corinthians
12:1-5) Then he states that in order to
prevent him from being filled with pride and vanity, he was given a physical
ailment which grieved him. Paul asked
The Lord God to remove it but the answer to his prayer was ‘no’.
Application:
The
Lord God hears our prayers. (1 Peter 3:12)
Sometimes we do not get what we ask for because His answer to us is “no”. Sometimes we ask for things which do not
glorify God. (John 14:13) There are
times when He allows things to happen to us in order to get our attention. We need to acknowledge Him in all things.
(Proverbs 3:6) We even need to see the
silver lining in every storm cloud. (James 1:2)
Bad things which happen to us can work out for our good. (Genesis 50:20
and Romans 8:28) In all things, we
should give God glory. His grace is
sufficient for us. His power can be
revealed though our weakness.
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