the Lord is faithful.

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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. for the sake of Christ, then, i am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. for when i am weak, then i am strong. [2 corinthians 12:9-10]

My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness...for when i am weak, then i am strong. woah. those are such powerful ideas. when we are weak, the power of the Lord is made perfect. when we are weak, those are the moments when we are strong. these ideas are so counter-cultural, but when we put our faith behind them, they can transform the impossible into possible. i know this because i've seen it in my life and in the lives of those around me. THE LORD IS FAITHFUL. i've realized that more this week and put more faith in the Lord than i ever remember doing in my entire life. and i have been so blessed by that.

in the verses preceding verses nine and ten, paul talks about having a "thorn" given to him to keep him from becoming conceited because of the "surpassing greatness of the revelations" he had been receiving from the Lord. earlier this week, i prayed to the Lord about why He is calling me to the painful situations in my life. but the Lord answered my prayer by telling me that those things were my "thorn" and to never forget, "My power is made perfect in weakness." needless to say, things were put in a different perspective. instead of being hardships in my life, they were rather a way to glorify my Father. and that is a beautiful thing.

2 corinthians 12 reminded me of a nicholas sparks quote i had read, and that has always stuck with me. (yes, a connection was made between the Word of God and the author of the notebook). the quote says: "when you're struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it's just as hard as what you're going through." we all have our "thing" that we're struggling with. and though it may seem huge to us, someone else's "thing" is just as big. so whatever you're "thing" is, remember...
" f o r w h e n i a m w e a k , t h e n i a m s t r o n g . "