Power in Weakness

"...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

-Ephesians 3:17-19

There is a cry from brokenness that longs to be filled to the whole measure of the fullness of God.  In my brokenness I know that Christ is the cure.  When His Spirit occupies the broken places of my life I am made whole.  I am made complete in Him.  This process of healing is just that, a process.  It is from "glory to glory" (II Corinthians 3:18) 

We all have areas of our lives that need to be filled with God.  Wounds from our past long to be healed in the presence of Christ.  We present to God our brokenness because it is all we have to offer.  None of us come to Christ complete.  We come to Him imperfect, marred, tattered, and bruised.

As God makes us whole we become ambassadors of His healing love to a broken world.  Christ's love compels us (II Corinthians 5:14).  Where we have been wounded, Christ empowers us to heal others.  Just as the wounds of Christ became a source of great power, Christ's power in our weakness becomes a world-changing force.  His power is made perfect in our weakness.

Five or six years ago I went through a time of discouragement and depression and, at the moment, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it.  I thought I was at the end of what I could handle and cried out to God for help and mercy.  In my low place God lifted me up.  I had a dream where I was in a worship service.  A lady from my church laid hands on me and I fell backwards, touched by the Holy Spirit.  When I woke up I knew something had changed.  The Lord had touched me.  Though all my problems were not instantly resolved, there was a joy and a peace in my spirit that was unmistakable.

At times I have cried out to God to take away this "thorn in my flesh."  Yet God reminds me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9)  I have heard a quote that goes something like this:  "No matter how deep the trouble, God is deeper still."  In the depths of my brokenness God has reached down and lifted me up out of the miry pit.  He has set my feet firmly upon the rock.  I still struggle with this thorn, but, I believe, God has used it to work in me something deep.  He uses it as a source of His power in my life to minister to others.