Good Things Happen When Your Legs Give Out
(I Corinthians 12:7-10)
Sometime when you’re tired of pushing your way through the mall, just sit
down somewhere and watch the children. Playing amateur psychologist, I’ve
observed children relating to their parents there on three different levels.
First, there are the kids who are running ahead of their parents – until they
suddenly realize they’re lost in this sea of legs. Now, at my height,
that’s a feeling I relate to. There are also those children who are walking
along, holding Mom or Dad’s hand – they know the mall is not for the small,
so they hang onto a tall. But my favorites are the little ones who are
totally exhausted and sort of collapsed in their parents’ arms. Their legs
have gone on strike and their parents are carrying them. In fact, the child
is often sleeping soundly with his head embedded in his parent’s shoulder.
Sometimes, I’ve said to a parent carrying a child like that – “Now that’s
the way to travel, isn’t it?” It really is.
In those little children collapsed in their parents’ arms is a helpful
picture of how God may want you to be traveling right now. After all, you’re
pretty tired, right now, aren’t you? It’s been a long walk, a lot of
pushing and shoving – your resources are pretty depleted.
Enter the Apostle Paul in our word for today from the Word of God beginning
in II Corinthians 12:7ff. Paul says, “There was given me a thorn in my flesh
. . . Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.” We
don’t know what Paul’s thorn was, but, whatever it was, it was something
that limited him, that frustrated him, that caused him pain. Paul thought
what God would do was to miraculously remove it. God had a better idea.
Paul continues, “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.”
Now, Paul’s first reaction to the thing that makes him weak, that’s beyond
his control is pretty much the same as ours – he struggles with it. But
eventually, he ends up celebrating it! Why? Because he has discovered a
power he could never touch when he was strong. Like that child in the mall
with no strength left – he’s experiencing in his Daddy’s arms a strength and
stride he could never experience on his on two legs.
Those children in the mall are a picture of how we experience God in a deeper
and deeper way. First, we’re running around, not caring where God is –
until we realize we’re lost and our Father finds us. Then, we move into
walking along holding His hand, allowing the Lord to help us – I know I
can’t make it alone, but I’m still walking in my own strength. Then the
“thorn” hits – something in my life that levels me . . . I can do nothing
about it . . . it leaves me limp and powerless.
That’s when I discover how strong a Heavenly Father I have. Not just one who
saves me or helps me – but my Father who carries me. Now it’s all Him! And
you can go farther and faster in His arms than you ever could go on your
legs! So you can honestly look at your powerlessness and say, “I’m glad I
can’t.”
You are about to taste God’s grace and power as only powerless people can –
and your struggle will become your platform for talking about a Savior who is
all you need when you have nothing to give. Maybe you’re still trying to get
there on your own. It’s time to look up and say, “Daddy, carry me.”
Because you’re never stronger than when your Father is carrying you.
Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. Permission to reproduce this
material is automatically granted on the condition it will be used for
non-commercial purposes, will not be sold, and will be distributed for
the sole purpose of expanding the Gospel.
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