"My Greatest Enemy" September 28 Readings: Isaiah 66, 2 Corinthians 12–13, Psalm 109:1–5, Proverbs 23:34–35

Today's Readings - Isaiah 66, 2 Corinthians 12–13, Psalm 109:1–5, Proverbs 23:34–35

Devotional 

Armies spend a lot of time doing surveillance on their enemies, trying to figure out who they are, what their resources are and how they can be attacked. If you want to win, you need to know your enemy.

What is my greatest enemy in my Christian life - that one thing that will derail me? The "things that are in the world" are always with us - the lust of the eyes (greed), the lust of the flesh and the pride of of life. I am constantly at danger of each one of them.

But Paul knew what the greatest danger was, that which keeps us from effective ministry and kingdom success. It is pride. In 2 Corinthians 12 he says some things that go directly against our normal way of thinking. Though he had received great promises from God and had even been blessed to be a witness of heavenly glory in a vision, he refused to boast about any of that. Instead, he turned that around and he boasted in his weaknesses.

I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses.  2 Corinthians 12:5

He recognized that the greatest enemy of Christian success is pride. As soon as we become entangled in our own arrogance and self-centeredness, we lose our effectiveness and become spiritually impotent.

To avoid arrogance, God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh (verses 7-8) that would keep him humble. No one knows what this thorn in the flesh was - a physical pain, a constant source of temptation, a person who irritated him - but we know that Paul cried out to God that the thorn might be removed. God refused.

Why? Why would the God who healed so many through Paul not heal Paul of this thorn? Paul explains that. It was "so I would not exalt myself." Paul's thorn reminded him daily that it was all of God and not of him - a lesson we so often forget.

God was willing to allow his beloved servant Paul to experience ongoing, persistent pain and aggravation so that he would remain humble.

In the middle of that pain, that humiliation, Paul learned something wonderful and life-changing, which he expressed in 2 Corinthians 12:9.

 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

 In our weakness, we learn of the strength of God. In our pain, we learn of the power of his grace. In our humility, we experience his glory.

And so, we don't need to pretend we are more than we are, or to hide our weaknesses. God's goodness and grace flow to the weak, not to those who pretend to be strong.

Father, my weakness is a reality I often forget. May I boast in your power that resides in me, and nothing else. 

Think and Pray

Do you hide your weaknesses, or do you admit them and revel in the strength God gives you?