And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is
made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in
my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am
weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
My personal incapacity is to door that opens up to grace, for I will have no need for grace if I am capable of helping myself. In Matthew, Jesus said of the poor in spirit that theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The realization of my incapacity is the door of grace. When a person fails to realize his personal incapacity, he is simply saying that he has no need for grace, and to such a person, the door of grace is shut. This is true for every aspect of life, beginning with salvation. It's sad that after we get saved, we think that we can carry on in our strength, not realizing that the moment we are of this disposition, we shut the door of grace to ourselves. The Holy Spirit does not help those who believe that they can help themselves. He comes only to the help of those who realize that of themselves, they can do nothing, therefore, God is credited with whatever benefit they receive. This way, there's no place for boasting; whatever we can boast of as resulting from something we did is indication that grace was not involved.
My personal incapacity is to door that opens up to grace, for I will have no need for grace if I am capable of helping myself. In Matthew, Jesus said of the poor in spirit that theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The realization of my incapacity is the door of grace. When a person fails to realize his personal incapacity, he is simply saying that he has no need for grace, and to such a person, the door of grace is shut. This is true for every aspect of life, beginning with salvation. It's sad that after we get saved, we think that we can carry on in our strength, not realizing that the moment we are of this disposition, we shut the door of grace to ourselves. The Holy Spirit does not help those who believe that they can help themselves. He comes only to the help of those who realize that of themselves, they can do nothing, therefore, God is credited with whatever benefit they receive. This way, there's no place for boasting; whatever we can boast of as resulting from something we did is indication that grace was not involved.
In
2 Chronicles 20, Judah faced a challenge which was greater than their
ability to cope with, and they cried out to God. "Our God, will you not
judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is
attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you... Then
the Spirit of the Lord came..." 2 Chronicles 20:12, 14. Notice that the
Holy Spirit only came in when they acknowledged their incapacity and
called on God for help. This was how grace came to their aid, and this
is how grace comes to us now.
Is it possible that we may have inadvertently shut the door of grace because of our attitude of self-sufficiency? Those who are self-sufficient see no need to receive help from other people and therefore they are caught up in their little world. To live a God-dependent life is to live a life powered by grace. Apostle Paul learnt the value of weakness when God told him that His strength is made perfect in his weakness, and he declared, "for when I am weak, then am I strong." Each time we acknowledge our weakness, God's grace becomes our strength. This way, we trade our weaknesses for His strength.
Is it possible that we may have inadvertently shut the door of grace because of our attitude of self-sufficiency? Those who are self-sufficient see no need to receive help from other people and therefore they are caught up in their little world. To live a God-dependent life is to live a life powered by grace. Apostle Paul learnt the value of weakness when God told him that His strength is made perfect in his weakness, and he declared, "for when I am weak, then am I strong." Each time we acknowledge our weakness, God's grace becomes our strength. This way, we trade our weaknesses for His strength.
Toni
