(Be blessed by this DWOD for Nov. 06, 2013 by guest blogger, Barry Adams)

 He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

 The Apostle Paul was one of the greatest (if not the greatest) of all of the apostles. He is responsible for writing the theology for a huge chunk of the New Testament that we all embrace today. In the verses just prior to this week’s Scripture passage, Paul even tells about the amazing things that he saw when he was caught up to the third heaven. If there was ever someone who could boast in his own abilities, it would probably be Paul. He was better educated, better disciplined, and probably more zealous than most of his contemporaries.

Yet in all of his natural abilities and spiritual gifts, it appears that he had something yet to learn. And that was the principle of weakness. You see, Paul thought as many of us do, that in order to be strong, we need to be able to demonstrate our own strength. Yet as we read in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, he was about to learn that the very opposite of this is true.

Because of his struggle with something that he could not overcome in his own strength, the proverbial thorn in the flesh, he asked God to remove it on his behalf. He actually asked on 3 different occasions to be delivered from whatever it was that was harassing him. It was at that time that Jesus appeared to him and said words that absolutely turned Paul’s theology upside down… “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

It was at that moment that Paul got a revelation of the principle of weakness. When he was empty of his own ability to be strong, then the omniscient, omnipotent power of Christ living in him could be strong on his behalf! Paul realized that his own strength actually was getting in the way so he decided not to try and boast in his strength any longer, but rather in his weakness. For when he was weak… then he was made strong!

You see, a son is not afraid to be weak. He knows that one of the greatest principles in the kingdom is the principle of weakness. Jesus modelled this dependent life in John 5:19-20 when He told His disciples that the Son could do NOTHING apart from His Father. In John 14:8-11, Jesus also said that it was actually the Father doing the work through Him.

If we try to be strong in our own abilities, we will actually hinder the true strength of Christ that is just waiting to be revealed through a surrendered life. That is why Jesus told us in Matthew 18 that the greatest in the kingdom would be those with a childlike heart. Little children are weak. They need to be provided for, protected, taught, etc., etc. Because they know they are needy, it creates a complete and absolute dependence upon their parents that is absolutely beautiful.

Because we live in an orphan-hearted world system, the ideologies and opinions of that mindset dominate the thinking…even in some church cultures. In an orphan world system, the first shall be first and the last will be least. The wealthy, the powerful, the beautiful, the educated are all considered the cream of the crop, while those who are lesser in any of these areas are considered to be inferior.

When I talk about an orphan mindset, I am simply referring to a belief system that is not rooted in the truth that we are children of God and that He is a Father to us in every way. If we are not yet convinced of this foundational truth of Christianity, we will try to live a life where we have to manage all of the challenges that come our way in our own strength.

My prayer today is that God would give us the same revelation that He gave to Paul the Apostle two thousand years ago…that when we are weak, then we are truly strong because the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for us.

(Barry Adams is the humble vessel chosen by God to bless the world with the revelation known as the Father’s Love Letter. Along with his wife Annelise, Barry ministers the Father’s Love all over the world. Today’s DWOD is from a post he wrote for A Son’s Life Blog)