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September 21
The End of the Beginning
For reading & meditation - 2 Corinthians 2:12
"... thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ ..." (2:14)
Although this is the end of the theme of "Strong at the broken places," I pray that, for many of you, it will be the beginning of a new approach to handling your weaknesses. How thankful I am that, in the early years of my Christian life, God impressed into my spirit the truth that my weaknesses could be turned into strengths. With just a few years of Christian experience behind me, I stumbled and fell. The temptation was to wallow in self-pity. But by God's grace, I got up, brushed myself off, and said, "Devil, you won that round, but I'll work on that problem until it is no longer a weakness, but a strength." I did work on it, and today I can testify that the weakness which caused me to stumble has indeed become a strength. I say that humbly, recognizing that the strength I have is not my own, but His. Today is a new day. How will you face it? Are you ready to face your weaknesses in the assurance that, no matter how life breaks you, you can draw out from each experience a lesson that will live on inside you and help you to find victory in a future situation? Just as a broken bone, when it is healed, becomes stronger at that place than it was before it was broken, so you can become stronger by your very weaknesses. Thus when you stumble, you stumble forward; when you fall, you fall on your knees and get up a stronger person. When we are Christians, everything is "grist to our mill."
Prayer:
O Father, I sense today that this is not the end, but the end of the beginning. From now on, I shall face the future knowing that, however life breaks me, in You I can become strong at the broken places. All honor and glory to Your peerless and precious Name. Amen.
For Further Study
Ephesians 3; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Isaiah 40:31
1. What was Paul's testimony?
2. What is your testimony?
