Finding Strength in Weakness

I have four granddaughters, and for a while they really liked dolls. They also would break them sometimes, so I bought extras and set them aside.

One day my granddaughter came in and was upset because her doll’s head came off.

“I can fix it,” I told her. “It’s okay.” But as much as I tried, I couldn’t get the doll’s head back on.

“It’s not okay. You don’t understand,” she said.

“I do understand. It’s going to be okay,” I said. “Look at this!”

Then I gave her a brand-new doll. Suddenly everything was okay. She didn’t even want the old doll anymore.

That is how it can be in our lives as well. We’ll say, “God, why did You let this happen?”

“It will be okay,” He tells us.

“It’s not okay. You don’t know what You’re doing.”

“No, I know what I’m doing.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I do understand. It’s going to be okay. You’ll see.”

The apostle Paul had what he called “a thorn in the flesh.” It actually can be translated “stake in the flesh.” We don’t know what it was, but it was bad. And He asked God three times to take away this affliction.

But God said in response, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT).

Paul went on to say, “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (verse 9 NLT).

Paul had a heavenly perspective. He could say, “Yes, this stuff is hard. But I can rejoice in it.”

God promises that He will work all things together for good. He doesn’t say He will make a bad thing good, necessarily. But He says that good will come despite the bad thing.