Daily Scripture and Reflections

• Posted by Pastor Charles Stilwell ULCM August 10, 2018 - #  #Devotionals  - 480 views
  My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.

  THREE YEARS AGO EVERYTHING CHANGED for me. I needed a routine medical procedure and was told it was scheduled for the coming Friday. I was on call for newborn emergency transports that weekend and no one else could cover my call, so I requested that the procedure be rescheduled for the following week. That’s why I was in an ambulance instead of at home recovering from outpatient surgery that Saturday. I lost the hearing in my right ear after an abrupt pressure change when the back doors opened. Although my hearing loss, which was originally thought to be total and permanent, improved enough that a hearing aid helps, I still struggle with balance and cognition.

   

  My mother used to say, “No good deed goes unpunished.” I have to say it irked me that this happened because I’d been trying to do a good thing rather than just accepting the appointment as scheduled and calling in sick. I knew I wasn’t indispensable. The hospital would have survived without me.

   

  I wonder, though, where following Jesus enters the picture in the specifics of my life, and this incident in particular. Was He caught off guard and surprised by what happened? I don’t believe He was. Jesus knows me and knows I follow Him. I came to a fork in the road and made a decision that had consequences.

   

  I am different now. Weaker, but depending more on Him.

   

  His grace is sufficient.

   

  Faith Step: Paul’s weakness kept him from pride. Imagine your weakness being the place where Christ’s power rests in you. What might that look like?

   

  By Suzanne Davenport Tietjen