Title: Glory revealed through weakness and lack
Contents
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
"For he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." 12:9)
A world-renowned spiritual theologian named Eugene Peterson said this in his book.
“I have attended or visited numerous churches until now. However, I have never been sufficiently satisfied with the appearance of the church or the members of the congregation. I have always experienced dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction. However, as I get older and become more spiritually mature, I am lacking. Despite their weakness and weakness, they have an eye to see the glory of God shining in them.”
God is pleased to show His glory through such ordinary, insignificant and lacking churches and saints. Visit the countless churches on this earth and meet the saints. Of course, you can meet large and glamorous churches, famous churches, and members who are well-dressed and look good, but the more churches and the more members you see, the more common and insufficient by the so-called worldly standards. And sometimes it's disappointing. But God is pleased to show His glory and power out of that weakness and lack.
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone of the house; this has been done by the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22-23).
What is important for us is that we must have the eyes of being born again by grace. A believer who has truly received grace will have a different perspective on people and a different evaluation standard for life.
"Glorified, shamed, reproached, praised, and so on. We are as deceivers and yet truthful; as nameless and famous; as dead, but behold, we live. As one who receives, but does not come to death; as one who grieves, but always rejoices; as one who is poor, yet makes many rich; as one who has nothing, but has everything." (2 Corinthians 6:8) - 10)
* Prayer: O Lord, who creeps in among the little ones, do not let me be discouraged or ashamed because of my weakness. Make me low and soften every day. Help me to learn to lose through service every day. Help me to follow the path of the Lord, who showed the example of victory through defeat. Let our weaknesses become instruments of your grace. Looking only at my weaknesses, I hold onto my discouraged heart again and ask for God's help. Seeing that all things are in your hands, move forward in faith. Help me in my weakness, give me comfort and peace in my heart. Let all the darkness in our hearts fade away, and always resist the enemy the devil, who constantly gives us discouragement and despair, and through your grace, make us a refuge, so that we may receive blessings for all generations. In the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.