In Our Weakness, He Is Strong

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7

                “To make or become quiet; to be silent; to stop.  When the thunder would not peace at my bidding” (Webster’s Dictionary).  The absence of a storm, is that peace?   Many people, I think, would say yes.   They would say that there is peace when the sky is clear and the water is calm.  But, I find it interesting that even in Webster’s Dictionary the quote says, “When the thunder would not peace at my bidding.”   The thunder did not silence, instead the person silenced.  They stopped, became still, and sat in quiet silence as the storm raged on around them.   Is that not what we are supposed to do as Christians?

                The last couple weeks I have been thinking a lot about Paul and his writings.  Then this Sunday we were in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where Paul talks about the thorn in his side.  He writes, “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” (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). But, God says no.  How often can we relate to this?  We are in a storm, a hardship, or facing a challenge and we beg God to just take it away.  We ask that He would give us peace, that He would clear our vision, and that He would calm the storm in our lives and our hearts.  We beg, and yet so often we are met with the two letter word “no.”  Why?  Because in Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” 

                 God never puts challenges and storms in our lives to trip us on purpose, He doesn’t want to harm or hurt us.  No, He puts challenges in our lives to make us run to Him, to grow us, to make us stronger in His power and to keep us humbled at His feet.  God’s answer to Paul was this, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” It is when we turn our eyes upon Him, and lean on His strength and not our own, that we have peace.  We might be facing something that is impossible to handle in our own strength, but with God everything is possible.  As Paul says, “for Christ’s sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardship, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  We must first accept our weakness, then “Let Go and Let God,” and that is when we find His peace. For when I am weak, God is strong.