A Magnolia's Heart Beats

Irene, over at Thankful Thursday, hosts this wonderful meme. It's such a great time to honor God with thankfulness for what He has given us.

Irene posted the verse "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word! Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules."~ Psalm 119:102-108 (emphasis Irene's) (ESV)





She asked us what we were thankful for. I, too, am thankful for God's Word. There is so much life in His Word. It's full of hope and encouragement, as well as instruction and wisdom.

This week I have been wrestling with a flare-up of an illness I have. It's painful, time-consuming, inconvenient, and worrisome. Like the apostle Paul, I have prayed for this "thorn in the flesh" to be removed, yet God has told me "No."

I'm thankful this week for God's message through Paul in 1 Corinthians 12: 8-10.

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when
I am weak, then I am strong."

I find it so hard to delight in my weakness. I am reminded that God's grace is sufficient, though, and I know that I pray more because of the "thorn". If it wasn't there, would I pray as much? Would my time in prayer that I use begging God for release and mercy go further into praying for others? Would I be as close to God as I am without that weakness? I am strong in Christ because I am weak.

It doesn't matter to me if God never delivers me from the clutches of IBS. His wonderful grace is sufficient for me. I will keep clinging to Him, spending time in the Word, spending time in prayer, and most of all, glorifying God.

The weaknesses that come with this mortal body are one day going to be stripped away. That's the result of grace, my friend. Illness will not last forever. Praise God for His Word that I can cling to for hope!