To listen to the audio of this post, follow the link.
There is a verse that has come up repeatedly in my scripture cards. Every time it does, I have an approach-avoidance feeling.
Paul said,
“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.”
2 Corinthians 12:10
I want to scream, “I do not delight in weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions or any difficulties.”
And then I hear Jesus saying, “But would you do it for Me? I did it for you.”
You see, Paul said he did it for Christ. He had come to understand, there was a reason for all the challenges he faced.
It was to show him how strong God was in Him. It was to show him any successes he had were going to be because God was strong.
Paul learned the real Truth of “when I am weak, then I am strong.”
God told Moses His Name was I AM.
Therefore, Paul’s statement becomes
“When I am weak, then I AM (God) is strong.”
I try not to talk a lot about how challenging life has been for me in the past few years. It would seem like whining. It would seem like an outright cry for pity. And worse, it would seem a public admission of how weak I am.
But today, I realized it is in the telling of my weakness that I get to reveal how strong God is.
I get to tell what complete miracles He can do when we give Him everything we have.
I get to go, “Wow! I am completely amazed because everything that happened is so obviously God and not me.”
I get to thank God for taking me along on adventures I never thought possible.
An autoimmune illness has caused major alterations in my life over the past several years. Life has seemed at times, like I was playing some sort of strange version of musical chairs.
When I adapted to one loss, another “chair” would be pulled out and I would have to scramble to adjust to that “new normal.”
Even though Paul said he could boast about his weaknesses, he really did not tell us what they were. So I will not burden you with the details other than to say they have been significant.
We became unable to participate in church or other activities, which had once been a big part of life.
We have been very isolated.
However, we sought to “bloom where we were planted.” God allowed me to write Christian teachings and present them on You Tube from our home. Jay was the videographer, director and producer.
I also continued to write a blog regularly, commenting on life from the sidelines.
Then another “chair” was removed. That one made it impossible to continue being on camera to video.
So we began to incorporate what I would have taught on video into audio and we added them to my blog posts. Jay was the audio engineer.
Right in the midst of that project, God began to plant the seeds of something He brought to life almost overnight. He gave me the words to what became a Christmas book.
Through the talents God gave Jay, Christmas Rediscovered was published in both ebook and print by November. We then added audio through my blog.
The next joy came in how God allowed us to come along while He delivered the books. They were available for purchase, but we wanted to live the true meaning of Christmas by giving them as gifts.
We were not sure how we were going to do that since I essentially live “in a bubble.”
However, not to be outdone, we purchased a supply of books and mailed them to people God brought to mind.
We gave books to people who delivered things to us or came to make service calls in our home.
We gave books to neighbors.
We gave books to doctors, nurses and clerks when we had appointments.
I wrote down the names of everyone to whom we gave a book and prayed for them.
And then God upped the ante. He pulled out another “chair.”
In December, in the midst of our joyous assignment, quite unexpectedly I developed a corneal ulcer. After various attempts to heal it, it perforated the cornea.
My eye collapsed and had to be removed. That was one of the most challenging weeks of my life. However, wherever we went, we took books and continued to give God’s Gifts.
It became clear God was not going with us. He wanted us to go with Him. We saw people at that time we would never have seen otherwise.
There is one other very significant part to this story. After the Christmas book went to press, God immediately began to give me the words to another book.
I was in the middle of writing it when the eye crisis happened. I then had to come back into my new life with a half completed manuscript.
“What now? “ I thought.
God said, “Keep writing.”
I protested, telling Him all I thought I did not have. He told me all He had. I continued writing.
Chapter after chapter again began to appear. Then in March Jay got the flu. Several days later, I was down for the count.
But after the initial storm, I continued writing. And now, as we are both recovering, I have finished the book. Jay is using the talents God has given him to to get it ready to publish.
Hopefully, Sent From Heaven, Why You Are Here …will be out soon.
I am more excited about this book than any I have written yet. I am deeply humbled and amazed at all the things God has taught me. And I hope to share it all with you.
So prayers appreciated as we enter this next phase of publishing. We continue on the journey with God. And yes, Paul was right.
When I am weak, I AM (God) is strong! His Grace is truly amazing and I am so thankful.
